Together in Death
by Sataria
Summary: Together in Any Universe 2! The Kurgan has claimed his mate, a woman named Arielle Neeson. After her "death", her mind and soul were transported to the universe of HIGHLANDER. How will she fare in this new world? Who is out to get the The Kurgan's mate now that he has one? The Kurgan/OC STRONG SEXUAL themes ahead. Possible drug references throughout.
1. Chapter 1

_**I have returned! My screen is fixed! I can see! This is Part 2, **__**Together in Any Universe**__** is part one and if you just joined the story I will ask that you browse Part 1 to at least enlighten yourself on what it is about. To warn any younger readers this does contain strong language from time to time and Sexual themes, (if you want to see what that is read The Choice chapter in Part 1). Anyway The Kurgan and Arielle are back! This is going to start a little ways ahead but the next few chapters will explain.**_ **To spruce things up a bit I've started off this chapter with some "strong coffee" *cough cough* If you understand. ** **Enjoy. . .**

The Kurgan returned home to his castle after a few hours of hunting. He stormed upstairs and expected to find his mate but she wasn't there. He searched all over his domain and growled after nearly an hour of searching.

He grabbed the arm of the nearest male servant. "Where is she?" he shouted.

The man was older and looked terrified at his master, "The Mistress . . . left. Some time ago."

The Kurgan's face filled with fury, "Where the hell did she go?!"

**ZZZZZZZZZZZIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII IIIIIIINNNNNG**

At the tavern the men and woman gathered where all drunk and merry. One woman in particular was extremely exuberant. Her long blond hair had come out of its braid, her cheeks were rosy with drunkenness, and she was laughing on top of a table. The Kurgan managed to slip inside the tavern unnoticed and watched as his woman lifted a mug up and laughed as the people cheered and she drank. She wobbled on her feet and nearly fell off the table!

The Kurgan though watched in amusement as Arielle made herself look like a fool, it was obvious she had no head for ale. He watched the men below her as they watched her, some had lust in their eyes and it was when The Kurgan saw that his humor vanished and he strode forward.

A silence came over the tavern behind the man as he walked forward. When Arielle saw him she grinned stupidly and gazed him up and down, "Well here is my daring Master. Gello love? How areyou doin tonight?" she giggled

He growled, "Silence woman." His voice was deep and menacing but she didn't notice. He grabbed her arm, "You've lost her head in drink. When we get back to-"

"I'm having sucha fine time here m'darling!" She slurred, interrupting him.

The look he gave her made other people run out of the tavern and pray for her soul. He didn't say a word as she swayed on the table, his grip tightened.

She laughed and looked at his hand, "Ooooh. What'sthis about?"

He frowned and continued to stare at her. Suddenly a man, drunk and filled with false courage, stood up on the table beside her and wrapped his arm around her waist. "She ain't going anywherewith you. Go fuck a goat you demon."

Arielle pouted her bottom lip, "He did a no no. Teehee."

The Kurgan turned his attention to the bold man. He smirked and tilted his head, this man was dead where he stood. Without warning he let go of Arielle and grabbed the other man by his shirt. The man yelped as he was flung to the ground and smashed his head on the dirt floor. The poor soul was instantly sobered up and looked up at The Kurgan with fear. He began to scream as his head was repeatedly smashed against the ground, blood splattered all over and matted the man's hair. Arielle watched but was blind to the carnage that her lover was inflicting upon this man. When he was done he stood up and turned back to her.

"Come. Now," he said.

She swayed and tried to step down but ended up falling into him. He scowled as she found her footing and laughed drunkenly. He grabbed her roughly and dragged her outside. As they walked to the back stables Arielle suddenly groaned and clutched her stomach. She jerked away from him and leaned against a stable. She gagged and shoved her finger down her throat to make herself gag even more, she was successful. After a few minutes of throwing up all over the stable floor she fell to her side and began groaning about how bad it was to drink. With a growl The Kurgan lifted her up and slung her over his horse. He rode fast to the castle and along the way the movements of the horse helped her to empty her stomach and she fell asleep.

He carried her to their room and lay her down on the bed. He watched her curl up on her side and then narrowed his eyes at her.

"Damn woman," he said. "I'll teach you to get drunk when men are spying on you." When he walked away to gather rope he smiled to himself, "You belong to me."

After he finished his plan he went out to the balcony and looked out towards the village. The full moon cast enough light on the Earth for him to see that no one unusual was lurking around his domain. He turned his gaze in the direction that an enemy castle was and growled in his throat. With one last look around the land he went back inside and sat in a wing backed chair by the balcony doors. He drifted off to sleep watching Arielle.

* * *

In the morning Arielle knew before she opened her eyes that her hangover was a glorious one. She moaned and stretched, slowly opening her eyes.

"Oh God. . ." she groaned and tried to clutch her stomach but her hands caught on something and wouldn't move.

She opened her eyes more and looked at her wrists. She gasped when she saw that she was tied to the head board. When she tried yanking them away she saw that there was no hope in that, only pain in her wrists.

"Kurgan!" She screamed.

He chuckled from where he sat by the fireplace, "Yes my mate?"

She glared at him, "What the hell is this? Untie me now!"

"Well my pretty, it would seem that I can't leave you alone without you running off and getting drunk. You can not handle your drink woman," the way he looked at her made her pale.

"I admit it, I can't handle my drink, but this is absurd!" she shouted.

The Kurgan stood and slowly walked over to her, he crawled on the bed and pulled out his dagger. She looked up at him angrily as he loomed above her.

"You made yourself look like a fool. I will not have my mate doing that. Not only that but a man defended you when I came for you, it appears I have to teach you your place in this world," he said as he brought his knee up and crushed it against her soft spot.

She arched her back and cried out. She hated to admit it but it aroused her. Her wrists strained against her bonds as she tried to get free.

"Please let me go," she whispered. "I feel sick, please!"

He only laughed and began cutting through the ties on her bodice, "I don't feel sick. I feel magnificent. I also feel aroused."

She shook her head, "No! Not now. I can't!"

He opened up her outer dress and then cut down the thin white inner dress, which he opened up next revealing her soft woman body. He grabbed her breast and grinned at her gasp, "I can."

He quickly ripped off his clothes and his stiffness was pressed against her. She wiggled around under her lover but stopped when he grabbed her chin in his massive hand, his other hand gliding down her body. He made her wet in preparation for him. He made her look at him and watched as her eyes rolled when he touched between her thighs, her legs closed around his hand.

"I need to remind you who you belong to," he said. She shook her head but that didn't stop him from easily pulling apart her legs and exposing her woman flesh. He looked down and saw that she kept herself hair-free. He moved down and held her legs open, "You really are pretty."

She growled, "Stop looking at me like that!"

He laughed, "But I own you! You're my woman! I can do whatever I please and you won't have the will to stop me." He quickly went back to his original position over her, "You melt every time I touch you and you know it." To emphasize his point he pressed a finger against her opening and it effortlessly slid inside of her.

"That is not true," she said weakly and then bit her bottom lip.

Still smirking at her he took out his finger and then thrust himself inside of her sensitive flesh and began rocking back and forth. She tried to resist him and the feeling he brought out in her but it was soon futile. She begged for him and he relished in her cries. He stopped for a moment to bring her legs up around his shoulders, settling back on his heels. In the middle of their love making he began thrusting harder and leaned back, grabbing her buttocks in both hands, lifting her up and making her scream.

"Who do you belong to?" He asked calmly.

She shook her head.

"Tell me," he urged and ran one hand up and down her leg. He grabbed her ankle and licked her foot.

"You!" She shouted, "Only you!"

"And what is my name?" When she didn't respond he leaned in close over her and squeezed her ass, "What is my name?" He growled, his voice deep and gravelly.

"Kurgan!" She screamed between pants.

He began to get back into a rhythm, "Put it all together!" He commanded.

"I belong, ahh, to The Kurgan!" she screamed.

Laughing in triumphant The Kurgan abandoned his rhythm and rocked wildly back and forth, only aiming to please himself. Seconds before he came Arielle screamed and was shortly joined by the man inside of her. When he came he bellowed loudly and gripped her ass tightly. As he finished he let her shaky legs fall around his waist and he lay on top of her, leaning to the side slightly so that he wouldn't crush her. Their heavy breaths were the only thing that made noise in the room.

"Oh lover," she whispered.

He purred deeply as a response and then nuzzled his face between her breasts, planting kisses here and there. From her old life she would never have guessed that the antagonist of one of her favorite movies would ever be able to show even the slightest bit of real affection. After few moments he pulled away and rested on his back.

"Will you release me now Master?" Arielle asked.

He smirked and didn't look at her, "No." His warm breath brushed her skin.

"No?" She asked, surprised.

"I believe I told you once that if I ever got you into my world I would keep you tied to my bed. It seems that I have to stay true to my word for a little while longer." After he explained her sentence he rolled onto his side and closed his eyes.

With a sigh of defeat Arielle closed her eyes and let her head fall onto the pillow. Later that day she was woken up by The Kurgan's movements beside her. She opened her eyes and watched as he stood and got dressed.

"Oh Kurgan," she called out sweetly.

He looked up with a lazily gaze and saw her laying there naked, still tied and no blankets covering her curvy body. She crossed her legs and grinned at him. His eyes got big and the corner of his mouth turned up in a smirk.

"I have someone to deal with," he said. "I'll let you go when I come back."

Her face fell, "When will that be?"

He only grinned and laughed as he walked out.

_**Well what do you all think? Get my "strong coffee" reference? I like using stupid codes. First day (err night) back on the job with part 2 up and running. Talk to me. . .**_


	2. Chapter 2

**Almighty Warrior! I'm glad to be back :) As always thank you for the review. Thank you new guest as well! I hope you enjoyed part one and hope you will enjoy part two. Here is chapter two and I will also be posting chap three along with it. Enjoy. . .**

Arielle growled in frustration and threw her head back on the pillows, she stared at the ceiling angrily. When she was sure he was gone she began calling to her friend, an elderly red haired woman who worked in the kitchens.

"Mel!" She shouted. "Mel! I need your help!"

After a few moments of silence she called again. Finally, she heard footsteps coming her way. She was thankful it wasn't The Kurgan. The woman walked in with wide eyes and then blushed when she saw Arielle naked on her master's bed.

"What do ye wish Mistress?" The woman asked timidly.

Arielle sighed, "You don't need to be afraid, I'm not like him. I need you to untie me."

At that the woman looked terrified, "Oh Lord no. I can't go against his wishes. It would mean death. . .or worse."

"No, no, no." Arielle laughed softly, "I have a plan to avoid any trouble for you. After all that's the last I'd want for someone who works for me." She smiled kindly at the other woman.

Her words encouraged Mel and the woman moved forward, quickly undoing The Kurgan's knots.

"He's a master at knots as well as us," Arielle said jokingly, trying to ease Mel's stiffness.

The other woman looked more terrified than relaxed.

When she was done she averted her gaze and Arielle quickly went to the wardrobe, choosing a new green dress and put it on. It was made of wool and had long sleeves in Medieval fashion, gold thread made up delicate swirls on the the cuffs and hems, like most of her dresses it had been hand sewn by Mel. When she turned back the woman was gone. She nodded; it was understandable that the poor woman would want to get away from the room as quickly as possible. Arielle wouldn't want to face The Kurgan's rage either in this situation. She decided to find a river to bathe in, wake her up, and hopefully to get over her hangover. She knew that was a small river in the courtyard behind the castle. She took a linen, in place of a towel, with her and then made her way to the outside.

She felt free, despite being The Kurgan's property but that didn't bother her. It this world she didn't have to worry about work, or other people, or sadness. She was able to truly start anew, she was able to escape her brother's death and her grieving parents. That last part was the only thing that killed her on the inside because she knew how much losing two of their three children hurt. At least they had her younger brother to focus on as she hoped they were, and she had The Kurgan.

When she was done bathing she went back in through the kitchens and found Mel. She watched the servants work for a few minutes just to pass time before the other woman stepped greatly out of place.

"Why do ye do it?" She asked, the other servants looked at her in grave surprise. "Why do ye stay with him when ye know what he is and what he does?"

At first Arielle was surprised and she guessed that it was very out of place for the servant to ask but didn't feel offended. She would have asked the same thing in the other woman's place. She thought for a moment trying to organize her thoughts and reasons.

"I. . ." she began, "don't really know. I know he's an evil man, and that he's raped women before, I also know he's a murderer. He can't give me children and has done terrible things." She looked at Mel and shrugged, "I don't have a sane reason other than I love him, despite everything. He came to me after my brother died and at the time I was in a terrible place up here, "she tapped her head with one finger. "But _he_ came and helped me heal. He's different with me and he shows me a side of him we never thought existed."

Mel listened with interest while her face showed concern. "I fear for ye Mistress. I don't want such a kind woman like ye to die at his hands." She grabbed Arielle's hands and held them tight, looking into her eyes fearfully. "Please leave him now."

Arielle only laughed softly, "No. I could never leave him. I need him, beyond these castle walls I couldn't survive without him." She considered telling Mel about the movie-Earth continuum but decided that it was too complicated for the woman, who technically didn't exist, to understand. "And he would fall apart without me." She grinned impishly.

Mel shook her head and turned back for her work, "I did not wish to speak out of place. I simply don't want to watch another young maiden die at his hands."

"I understand," Arielle said, "But you mustn't worry." She stopped for a split second, _"I've never said 'mustn't' before. Hmm this place is growing on me quicker than i thought it would."_ She went on, "He couldn't bear to hurt me, or lose me. If anything _I_ would end up killing _him_." She smiled at the servant woman smugly.

The older woman managed to smile! Arielle was near bursting with joy at that accomplishment. She let Mel get back to work and wandered off through the castle, exploring her new home more. Towards nightfall she heard The Kurgan's return. She dashed up the stairs and sat on the bed to wait for him.

The Kurgan had been out making his rounds around his land. Over the past couple of months that he had brought his woman home, he had been getting suspicious that a rivaling duke, Lord Ambros Hartmann, was spying on him. He went straight to his room and found Arielle sitting on the edge of their bed. His eyes narrowed.

"How did you get out of those ropes?" He demanded to know.

She giggled and smiled at him, "I have my ways."

"And I have my reasons for keeping you tied!" He shouted at her but she felt no fear.

"Come sit down my Lord," she laughed internally because she had always wanted to say that. She reached out for him and he reluctantly sat, lying down and putting his head in her lap. He gazed back up and her and huffed in frustration. She smoothed back the hair from his face and smiled down at him.

"There are more reasons than having you for my sexual pleasures at all times that I have for tying you to my bed," he told her. "There have been spies roaming my lands from a rival castle and I have reason to believe that they wish to take you from me."

Her face paled, "What? Am I in danger?"

"No. You are safe here," he said.

"I can see why last night angered you so much." She suddenly looked at him angrily, "Why didn't you tell me!?"

He remained calm at her outburst, "I only learned that it was certain last night, I caught the latest one and killed him before I went off for you. I am the master of my property and that includes you. I protect what is mine."

At the word protect her anger vanished, "I need protecting? Oh that's so sweet my love."

The Kurgan, a man who wasn't 'sweet', suddenly got up and forced her onto her back, "I am merely making sure no one touches what is mine," he growled, his face inches from her, his eyes turning dark.

Arielle sighed, "Alright, whatever you want." She looked away from him. "You aren't sweet by any means. You're horrid. Absolutely horrid and I can hardly stand to look at you."

That made The Kurgan happy, "As It should be. You are mine now and you should fear me and my wrath."

He pressed his mouth to hers in a fierce kiss that took her breath away. He pulled away suddenly and stared at her, his face showed no emotion.

"What are you thinking Kurgan?" she asked.

"I have claimed my mate and she will live forever like me," he said. "But we are under threat and she goes off to the tavern and gets drunk."

"She will not do it again now that she knows her life is on the line," Arielle smiled softly at his hard stare.

Satisfied with her answer he gathered her in his arms and buried his face in her chest, pressing his body close on top of hers and losing himself in her smell and body. She bit her lip to keep from making any sound and was glad he didn't bring up that man he killed at the tavern. In not doing so she knew he knew where her loyalties were, even while drunk. She kissed the top of his head and felt his breathing against her.

"You belong to me Arielle," he stressed the word belong. "If you touched another man I'd punish you. If another man touched you I'd kill him." His voice rumbled in his chest and she felt it.

"I know Kurgan. I fear for whatever man is spying on us because it's his funeral. Enough of that, let us eat now," she said, letting her hands roam his body and feel the muscles he was flexing for her.

He got up, "I hunger woman."

She nodded in agreement and the two went down to where their food was waiting. Arielle sat on his right hand side and the they enjoyed their own little feast. That night The Kurgan held his woman in his arms as they fell asleep. She rested easy but he was unable to close his eyes, alert at every little sound his property made. When he was sure no one was there except him, his mate and his servants he fell asleep.


	3. Chapter 3

**A bit of a long one, but I just got going on writing from The Kurgan's point of view and before I knew it it was over one thousand words. I think it turned out nice though. Please tell me if I did alright in writing from His p.o.v.. The last thing I want is to lose The Kurgan's image completely and turn him into a big softie. We can't have him going completely soft now can we? Just a little for his mate. Enjoy. . .**

The Kurgan awoke the next morning and opened his eyes to see his mate nestled in close to him. He could feel her body heat and never recalled feeling so warm. He refused to believe he was going soft, even for a woman. He reached out and stroked her face with the back of his fingers. Before Arielle the only reason to survive was The Prize, but everyone knew how that ended. Without her he floated along in the universe unknowingly created by cinema and drifted through time and space, searching for another purpose.

He had waited for her to come back to him and now he had her. He ran his hand back through her hair and grinned and how smooth and soft it was. He looked at her a moment longer before rolling out of bed so smoothly he didn't wake her. He wanted to go make morning rounds before she woke up.

He dressed quietly and strapped his sword to his back. With one last glance at his woman he walked out the door and down the stairs. As he was descending his staircase he happened to pass a younger man servant who was most likely in his thirties. A man who looked capable of defending something, he would do. The Kurgan stopped by him.

"If anyone comes here with the intention of kidnapping the Woman you will defend her with your life," he looked at the other man dead in the eyes.

The servant, whose name The Kurgan didn't care enough about to remember, merely nodded steadily twice before bowing his head and dropping his gaze respectfully. Satisfied The Kurgan grinned and walked away. He made his way to the stables where he saddled and mounted his strong, big black horse. A magnificent beast of gigantic size and stride, his hooves alone were as big as The Kurgan's hands, the master liked strong animals as much as he liked Arielle's unclothed body. As he cantered out of the stables, to the surrounding hills to survey what was his, he didn't glance back at his castle. His mind though, did think about the sleeping woman back in his bed. The woman he could take whenever he wanted and without a fight. Yet she was a free woman and enjoyed their nightly ruttings.

"_She would call it love making_," he thought to himself while he rode, he chuckled. "_Well I rut her but let her call it what she will_." He looked out and smelled the air. Nothing of interest.

He turned his beast to the west and followed a ridge of bright green leaved greens to a ridge that over looked a valley. In this valley there was a hard river and farther to the west there was an even thicker forest than the one he just came out of. He frowned as he looked over at the land of the people he was suspicious of. He looked at the castle nestled between another village and the darker forest beyond. He stood at the threshold of Lord Hartmann's lands, a fat old man and who lived surrounded by many servants, his aging wife, their four sons and one daughter.

The Kurgan's reputation followed him when he came to live in the village he was ruler over just a few hours away. His reputation was enough to make the other lord fear him, commonly sending spies and would-be assassins. The Kurgan would dispatch them all easily enough but ever since he brought Arielle with him and word spread that he had taken a mate the assassination attempts stopped, being replaced by triple the amount of spies he knew where roaming his lands. His traps in the forest caught plenty of them.

He knew it was because of Arielle. Just a few weeks after bringing the woman to his world he notice that while out for a stroll through his village a man had followed them the whole day, of course The Kurgan was more curious as to what the man was doing than if he was an actual threat or another Immortal. When they were preparing to go back to the castle The Kurgan disappeared for only a moment to kill the man. He slipped back to Arielle's side without her ever even knowing he was gone. He prided himself in being so clever and quick to be able to kill a man without his mate ever even realizing he had gone to do it.

Thinking back to his woman he growled in fierce protectiveness over her. She was his and his alone, if Hartmann thought he could spy on her without suffering any consequences he was gravely wrong. The men sent as spies paid for their master's doing but that didn't make The Kurgan take any less pleasure in killing them. The sight of their blood would sometimes make him wish he had gotten to Arielle when she was still a virgin; so he could have made her bleed and say his name in pleasure at the same time. He was fascinated by the way blood flowed and had taken many virgins in his lifetime.

He reined his horse back towards the path he came from and ducked as the low hanging branches passed over him. He heard what sounded like footsteps and his ears twitched at the muffled sound. He stopped his horse and stood still for a moment to listen. There was nothing else, only silence. He searched the area for a little under an hour before deciding that his traps would catch whatever it was he heard.

He wanted to get back to his bed where his wife . . . "_Wife?"_ he asked himself. He raised an eyebrow; they weren't married. He loved her but he didn't think he needed to marry her to prove it. She was his mate and everyone knew they could never be separated by any mortal or immortal man.

When he reached his home he was pleased that nothing had occurred while he was out. He stalked upstairs and found Arielle just as he had left her. The sun had finally risen above the horizon and he didn't care if they slept late. He removed his cloak and let it fall to the ground by the bed, he placed his sword in its scabbard on top of it.

He gently crawled onto the bed and stood on his hands and knees above his sleeping mate. She was so fragile to him, well all women were. He gazed down at her and had no desire to so much as rape another woman, Arielle was all he wanted and he was satisfied with that. He leaned close and kissed her firmly on the temple, slowly kissing along her jaw line and back to her cheek. He smirked and his tongue left a light trail of saliva along her skin.

Until she woke up he was content with just watching and lying beside her. While he did he closed his eyes and stretched out behind her, the curve of her body filling in against the curves of his perfectly. His hand snaked up her waist and caressed her lovely neck. Very smoothly he slid his hand down her chest and into the loose bodice, he purred when he gently grabbed her breast. He had to control his sudden urges when he felt her soft and warm skin in his rough hands.

She was the most valuable thing he owned and wouldn't let a simple mortal man such as Lord Ambros Hartmann get to her. The Ultimate Prize that he had eternity with. He nestled his nose against the skin exposed on her neck inhaled her scent, grinning darkly as he did. He had just closed his eyes when a shriek echoed out from the stables. The Kurgan shot up and dashed from the bed as a woman could clearly be heard screaming, Arielle's eyes flew open and she shot up in bed just as her mate grabbed his sword and cloak and left the room.

He thundered down the stairs and ran out of his castle to where screams had come from. When he came up on the stables he saw the elder red haired woman who worked in his kitchens, her name didn't matter to him, sitting on an upside down bucket and leaning against the outside wall. Her face was pale as if something had scared the wits out of her. He didn't ask questions as he strode in the stables and stopped just passed the door, the horses whinnied at the woman's crying but otherwise were unharmed, it was what was held up on the door with a small dirk blade, a large dark sapphire in the hilt, that made his fury rise.

It wasn't just a mysterious blade stuck in his stable doors, that alone meant a threat to him and his estates, but it was what was pinned to the door by the blade that angered him the most. It was one of Arielle's cloaks, she had two trimmed with sable rabbit fur, one white the other black. Pinned to the door soaked with blood was her white riding cloak. Just then he heard approaching footsteps and he knew by sound alone that it was his woman.

He looked to his right and saw her look at the servant woman with curious eyes. Once she spotted him she walked to him. He noticed that she was wearing her black cloak and held it around her body against the chilly morning air, with the inside covered in fur she was more than protected from the elements. Her hair in disarray and her eyes wide with curiosity she stepped up to his side. When she saw her bloody cloak hanging from the door she swallowed a lump in her throat and her face paled in color.

She stared at the cblood covered cloak. "Does that mean someone wants to kill me?" Her voice was in monotone as she blankly stared at her cloak.

The Kurgan nodded, "A violent death. To stab the door is a threat to me. To stab my door and hang your white cloak soaked in blood is a death threat to you and a challenge to me." He firmly shut his jaw and Arielle could hear his teeth grind together.

She moved closer to him and pressed herself flush to his body. He wrapped a muscular arm around her body and pressed her against him. A younger boy named Erik, maybe fourteen or so who worked alongside his father on the property came running up to group of servants and Master of the castle.

"Father!" He called as he went to the man trying to calm the kitchen woman down. "Father I found a cockerel dead, its head cut offand its body drained of blood."

"Where?" The Kurgan's gravelly voice came out of the stable as he walked forward, his mate still pressed to his side.

The young boy's face went pale and he looked at his father for help, the man nodded. "Near the eastern border of the forest Master." The bosaid with his voice a little quieter than when he spoke to his father. "Near an old hunting trail," He said.

The Kurgan glared down at him, "Show me."

Nearly twenty minutes later the master of the property, his woman, and the boy were all standing around the dead body of a large rooster. It's head was smashed and nearly compeltely severed from its body, no blood appeared around the body so The Kurgan knew that the kill had been made inside the barn and the body left here. He bent down to get a closer look at the ground and decided that this was too perfect a trail to be true.

"He wants me to follow," he said, more to himself.

Arielle looked down sadly at what used to be an impressive animal. "Obviously," she said gently. "Have you had many spies come at you like this?"

He shook his head, "This is one is clever. No one has ever dared threaten me like he did."

"How long has it been dead boy?" Arielle asked the young one.

"Just under the hour Mistress. The body itself though be naught but dead since as late as midnight," he said.

It was at that moment that Arielle realized that Erik understood her and must be speaking in his native language, she understood and spoke it back. If she knew her history and geography correctly, Saxonia was Germany where she came from and in her past life she didn't speak a word of German. She guessed that being in this new world she automatically spoke the language that her mate spoke. She wondered if she would understand others that The Kurgan knew just as easily. She shook her head and quickly came out of her tangent.

The Kurgan was looking off into the darkened forest ahead. Arielle followed his gaze and felt an ominous presence lurking somewhere before them. Without knowing it she edged closer to her master while they gazed into the trees. The Kurgan was deciding whether or not to go after his prey but with a smirk decided to let this smarter spy come to him, no matter how tantalizing the chase might be. He stood and snaked an arm around Arielle's waist. Unnoticed by the younger boy, he slipped his hand to her back and then moved lower.

She yelped at the suddenness of it and then turned to glare at him playfully. She smirked and raised an eyebrow. "In such times you dare to play with me?" She asked seductively.

He chuckled, "With you I do whatever I want." His hand roamed lower and grabbed her rounded bottom, feeling how thin her night gown was. When he glanced back at her he saw that her body was alert from the cold. She shivered and he moved his hand to her shoulder, brining her in closer to him. "I'll take you back inside and show just what I'd do to you." He stopped suddenly and while Erik stood behind them and looked at the ground as he blushed furiously The Kurgan wrapped his arms around her torso and lifted her off the ground, pushing a kiss against her lips.

He set her back down and while she was glad for his confidence she was shaken by the death threat that had been sent to her. They walked back into the castle and The Kurgan ordered that the bloody cloak be burned in the courtyard.


	4. Chapter 4

**I feel awful for not updating sooner Y_Y Busy week, but I wrote up a few chapters that I hope you'll all like. Enjoy!**

Arielle sat by a window in her room. She sighed and looked out over the rolling landscape as she recalled her mate's words bitterly.

_He stood by the door while she stood by the bed, her hair was a mess and her robe wasn't tied securely enough, her chest peeking out from the red fabric. He looked at her, "You will not leave this room. It's not safe for you out beyond these walls."_

_She huffed in frustration, "I heard you the first time. You can't keep me locked in here forever, I will not be a prisoner in my own home." She objected firmly._

_His eyes darkened and he scowled, "My word is final woman. If I catch you outside of this room I will chain you to the bed. You will tell me that you understand." He waited for her answer._

_Shaking her head she walked up to him and leaned upwards towards him, "No."_

_He issued a throaty growl and then grabbed her shoulders, roughly flinging her to the bed. She lay awkwardly on her back on the edge of the bed and looked up at him with a determined look in her eyes. He pressed all of his weight onto her body, pressing his lower body forcefully against hers._

_He spoke, "I will not risk your death, even if that means keeping you prisoner in our room. You are mine now and will remain so for the rest of eternity. You will not jeopardize that!" He yelled in her face, shaking her twice to get his point across. He dropped her, or more of flung her, backwards onto the bed and then walked away. _

_Shaken, but not scared, she sat up and then stood on her feet. Just as she was storming towards the door she heard a heavy thump against the wood and when she reached it she found that he had placed a block on it; she was officially trapped._

It wasn't their first fight and it certainly wasn't their last, she hated that he won more than the fact that they fought. After he left is when she tied her robe properly around her body and then sank down into a wing backed chair by the window. She stared at the greenness outside her window and wanted to be down by the stream. As she stared she saw her mate stalk towards the stables, moments later he thundered out and made his horse turn to face her window before galloping away over the hills. She sneered at his figure and then looked at the room around her.

A new set of memories came to her as she took a moment to remember where she was and how she got there. She had been with The Kurgan for only four months and in that time had tried her best to readjust to Highlander life. The first week had been terrifying since she knew nothing about the time she lived in. She had no idea how to do everyday things, let alone how to be a count's countess. But The Kurgan was patient with teaching her, just like he was when he stalked his victims.

Her first month had been spent exploring her new home. Her mate and master showing her everything she would need to know about, telling her what she had to do and what she didn't have to do. She had always wondered what being a noble was like, a duchess or countess. She had also received a lot of help from the woman who worked in the kitchens, the elderly red haired woman named Mel. Mel had become her maid in a way, helping her get used to tying corsets and stays on her dresses. And then there was the issue of her having clothes at all, something The Kurgan ordered Mel to work on until Arielle had enough dresses.

The woman proved to be an amazing seamstress and was able to create simple, yet lovely gowns that Arielle came to love. She had to change her entire style to fit into this new era that she lived in, no longer dressing as a bohemian or hippy, but as a noble would. She came to accept it with ease. Clothes was no issue but learning how to cope in a world without the same technology was something she was intrigued by. It took a few weeks but she got used to the idea of living a simpler life without computers, phones or electricity. She didn't mind.

What was hardest was trying to find what to do with herself. Being the mate of The Kurgan meant that she didn't have to cook or clean for herself anymore. She came around to the idea of being waited on and in place of working she spent every moment with her mate. He taught her everything she needed to know, what things were called, how to handle servants, and most surprisingly was how he taught her to act as a countess.

"I am a count and certain responsibilities come with that title," he said to her one day. "Being my mate makes you a countess."

She grinned, "Does that mean we go to balls?" She asked eagerly.

He nodded, "But not many of course. Only when someone feels threatened and wants to gain my favor."

"What about other Immortals? Do they attack you here?" She asked.

"Sometimes," he said. "But I defeat them easily enough."

"Are there many of you?" She looked at him.

Again, he nodded. "Legions of us. A lot are ones your world doesn't even know exist. Many are created by other writers from your world and are given life here where we continue to fight for The Prize."

She became confused, "But all the movies and MacLeod. I thought The Prize was already won."

He grinned, "The Prize has never been won here. Only what you see. But what you see isn't all that is real."

She smirked and they continued with their riding lesson for the day. Most nights were spent in a love making frenzy, both of them feeling like they could be taken away from each other at any moment in time. The second month is when The Kurgan finally introduced his mate to the world. Already people had guessed and talked, rumors spread about The Kurgan Woman but no one knew for sure. Not until they were invited to a small ball at a king's castle. Arielle had never been so nervous.

Her mate showed no fear, only pride and aggressive obsession. He had Mel construct a deep midnight blue gown of velvet. It was off the shoulder and lined with black lace, tight sleeves ended at the elbows where the velvet flared into bell sleeves and more black lace made fingerless gloves. The skirt had been expertly stitched to have folds and provided a natural flare that moved with each step.

It was around this time, before they were to set off for the ball, that The Kurgan came to her with a gift. He found her admiring the dress in the floor length mirror in their room. She was touching the glass mushrooms around her neck that had accompanied her to this new world. He knew that they had been a gift from her dead brother. His boots thudded heavily on the wood floor as he crossed the room to her.

"Take them off Arielle," he said in a low voice.

She grabbed them and her eyes went wide, she tensed, "I. . .I can't." she whispered.

He grabbed her waist with both hands and turned her to face him, her gaze was low. He cupped her chin with one hand as he directed her gaze to what his other hand held. Dangling from one finger was a silver chain with a single pendant. A red opalescent crystal cut in a tear drop shape, set upside down in slightly dark silver setting. It had a rustic look that vintage lovers craved, the metal beaten and old looking.

She tentatively reached out and took the pendant in her hand. She closed her fingers around it and kept her gaze to it while she gave him two short nods. His fingers curled around the transparent ribbon of her past life and he yanked it off. She clasped the new necklace around her neck and the red gem contrasted nicely with the deep blue of her dress. She looked up at him.

"I want you to wear this for me. This is your life now," he said.

He did, however, put the mushrooms back into her hand. As an Immortal he knew how important it was to have a keepsake of one's past. Every Immortal's sword was a keepsake of their beginnings. Their entrance to the ball was a grand one and The Kurgan further astonished Arielle by proving that he was an adept dancer. Effortlessly swirling her around the dance floor. The king who had invited them took an interested eye to Arielle and watched her all evening; he didn't dare go near her though. Not with her mate hovering by her side every moment. That night The Kurgan took her to the king's own bedchambers while the dance wore on and made love to her in the other man's bed, they went back to the dance with Arielle weak kneed and red in the cheeks, her mate grinning darkly by her side.

That night was the first night The Kurgan suspected that Count Hartmann was spying on them. His valet kept a particularly close eye on the new woman, a move that didn't go unnoticed by The Kurgan. In the following two months life continued on for the new woman. The Kurgan took her on little trips to the village he ruled over and showed her his life. Among the weeks he also battled another Immortal. A small man from France who never had a chance of winning. A snob and full of himself he underestimated The Kurgan's precise movements and was easily dispatched. Arielle watched the spectacle from the front steps of their castle, she couldn't help but admire the ways her mate fought, he had a dark sort of grace in his own way.

Finally they entered the current month of Arielle's new life. The Kurgan had dealt with a man he knew was a spy from Hartmann and after an incident in the village he, along with huntsmen he hired, began making morning and nightly rounds of his property. He found small signs like disabled traps, there seemed fewer animals in the woods as if someone was hunting them to live out there. He also found remains of fire pits and small camps that the past men thought he would miss. It wasn't until the one night where Arielle ventured into the village for a day and ended up staying late into the night that The Kurgan was able to confirm his suspicions, he had hidden them from his mate because he wasn't sure himself. He cornered a wiry man with shaggy black hair and fought with him for only thrirty minutes before stabbing him, therefore killing yet another spy. The fight was cruel when he more of played with his victim before killing him.

He was already frustrated enough and going home to find his woman gone both amused and angered him. This new spy, though, was different from the rest, he was clever. Able to kill The Kurgan's own livestock on his own property presented a worthy challenge, but what made him furious and made him lock Arielle in their room was the fact that this spy, whoever he was, had managed to steal one of her things and send such a straightforward message to them both. No one knew just how the spy got a hold of the cloak but The Kurgan chose to believe that it had been left in the stables and not stolen from their room.

Coming back to reality Arielle thought to herself about how out of placed she still felt. Being from a different time and space gave her a unique air about her. She knew that the way she spoke would often confuse the servants, using terms and phrases they didn't quite understand. The Kurgan didn't care when he used out of time terms and in that made Arielle somewhat relieved. With him she felt exposed and a little lost, which is why she stuck to him as often as she could.

She knew her life was in danger and she partly understood her mate's reasons, but she couldn't stand being cooped up in her room for days until The Kurgan caught the current spy. She suddenly stood up and began going through her master's clothing, trying to find something she could fit to her size. She found a shirt that he wore in the winter, a simple shirt with long sleeves. She dug through every piece of stitched clothing he owned until she found a tighter pair of trousers that tied at the knees and waist, she fitted it to her body even though they still ballooned a little around her legs, she told herself to remember to ask Mel to make her a pair of pants that fit her one of these days.

**What is she doing?! O_o**


	5. Chapter 5

After tucking the shirt into her trousers she put on her muffin top cap with a black feather and tucked her hair as best she could into it. She stepped out on to the balcony and looked down to find a window ledge with the shutters flung wide open. She grabbed an elegant dagger that had been another gift from her mate and tucked it into her rabbit skin boots, then grabbed the thick golden thread cord that tied together the curtains by the balcony doors and carefully scaled down to the window below. She almost felt ridiculous for going to such measures just to go for a walk among the hills while someone was out to kill her but in the clothes she wore she felt that from a distance no one would recognize her.

She made it through the window without running into a soul and dashed through the castle, carefully avoiding any of the servants who she knew had strict orders to keep her in her room. Once outside she quickly made her way to the hills behind the castle that were covered in a small section of forest. The trees provided a thick canopy overhead and light drifted through the spaces in the leaves and branches. As she went along a feeling of dread built up in her chest and she mental smacked herself.

"You should have stayed in your room," she whispered to herself. "How stupid to go out against his orders, just stupid." But the other side of her mind wrestled those thoughts, "Then again I want to show him I can manage myself." What she didn't want to realize was that she more of wanted to prove to herself that she could take careful of herself."

She found a nice little spot in and laid down on her back to enjoy the peacefulness of untainted land. It was moments such as this that she was glad modern technology would never exist in this place. Not unless The Kurgan showed her how to go to the other times of the Highlander Universe. For almost an hour she enjoyed the freedom of the her escape and simply admired the surrounding forest and small stream nearby. Almost at the same time she decided to go back so no one would notice her absence she encountered her first brush with danger in her new world.

"Hello boy," a voice said.

She bolted upright and glared at the man across the clearing from her. He was the same height as MacLeod and seemed to come from the same land. He wore a plaid over his broad shoulders but no kilt, instead wearing brown trousers, worn boots, a white shirt similar to her own, his long brown hair was tied back and by his side was a broad sword with a deep blue stone, like the dirk had, in the hilt. A bow with arrows were slung across his back. He looked like a man off the cover of a romance novel that Arielle had read in her past life but was actually far from a romantic figure to her.

She glared at him, "Who are you? What are you doing on Kurgan land?"

He chuckled, "I go by the name of Ian Derbith boy. I'm here to see a woman," he said. "Would you know where I can find one? A woman with long gold hair who lives with The Kurgan."

She held her dagger firmly, "Turn the fuck around before I fetch my master. He'd be more than happy to take your head."

"You speak strangely," he said tilting his head to the side. "No matter. A dead servant will send a clear message yet again." He drew his sword and began closing the distance between them.

Just as he was upon her she jumped to the side, avoiding his sword. He looked at her and his eye twitched with a hint of annoyance. He lunged at her and she jumped back quickly. He growled in irritation.

"Are you going o use that dagger of yours or just point it at me?" He asked angrily.

At his words she accessed the situation quickly and then threw her dagger at his body, she had no experience in sword play and was relieved, as well as surprised, when her dagger dug into his thigh. He yelled in pain and dropped his sword. He clutched the hilt of the blade and slowly pulled it out. With his blood dripping from the tip he glared at Arielle and then threw the weapon down and lunged at her, wanting to fight like a man with his bare hands.

"Damn you!" He shouted when he tackled her and sat on her waist.

She punched him and he punched her back. She grunted and then raked her nails down the side of his face, drawing even more blood. The man shouted in rage, his pride wounded by the fact that a mere boy could throw a knife and catch him. He punched her again and grabbed her shirt. The ties came loose and he felt as well as noticed her cleavage. She gasped when he raised another fist in the air but then stopped.

His eyes widened at his discovery. "You're The Kurgan's woman?" He asked and then smiled. "Ah ha! I knew you would try to get away from his grasp sooner or later."

"I didn't run away from him, he locked me up because of you and I refused to be kept as a prisoner in my own home!" She shouted at him before spitting in his face.

He closed his eyes, wiped away the spit, and then looked at her with deadly seriousness and punched her again. She yelped and her head rolled to the side. She felt blood in her mouth and gathered it with more saliva, she spit that in his face too. The blood landed in his eyes and stung as it blinded him, he let go of her shirt and she used that moment to scramble away from him and ran to her dagger. She picked it up and ran back to the man in less time that it took for him to get the blood out of his eyes and stabbed him in the shoulder. She didn't have the heart or mind to kill him.

He screamed and twisted around as she yanked the blade out. When he faced her she thrust her weapon out blindly and managed to cut him along his cheek to his ear. With the distraction of his inuries she made a dash back to the castle. Just before she left him behind she passed by a thick oak tree and put a hand out to grab it as she jumped over an upraised root. There was a twang behind her and then a thud in the tree next to her. She looked over at her hand and saw an arrow protruding from between her fingers. Her eyes grew big and she glanced back at Derbith just in time to see him scowl angrily at her and then notch another arrow.

She narrowly dodged the missile as it flew through the forest and struck another tree that she passed by. Behind her, Derbith, with his pride stinging bitterly, watched her go. He grunted as he pressed a cloth to his sliced cheek and then turned and picked up his sword from where he dropped it. He now had a score to settle with this woman and was more determined than before to get her back to the people who had hired him. He sheathed his weapon, strung his bow back across his back and disappeared in the trees.


	6. Chapter 6

Arielle didn't stop running until she burst out of the forest and then tripped and stumbled down the hill. She rolled over onto her back at the bottom and stared at the partly cloudy sky above. Her chest heaved with each deep breath she took and the spot on her face where Derbith had hit her were beginning to turn a light purple. She got back on her feet and continued running towards the castle. Just as she rounded the back door a massive hand lashed out and grabbed her neck, yanking her towards the body it belonged to. The Kurgan growled and shook the form in his hands, choking them. When her hat fell off her head he realized who it was and let go immediately.

"Arielle?" He asked. She gasped for breath. Enraged at finding her outside the castle he gritted his teeth and grabbed her shirt, swinging her around to slam her back up against the wall. He pressed a knee between her legs and hiked it up, her toes brushed the ground. He pinned her wrists to the wall and she cried out in pain. "How dare you woman?" He shouted at her.

She didn't respond as a new wave of pain rolled over her body and instead titled her head back to rest it against the wall. It was then that The Kurgan saw the bruises blossoming on her face and his whole demeanor changed at once. He dropped his knee, let go of her wrists and shut his mouth, when she was still reeling in her pain he picked her up in his arms and rushed her up to their room. After he put her gently on their bed she let herself finally give in to her pain and closed her eyes for a few minutes to rest from her flight back to the castle.

The Kurgan left her to be alone while he made quick rounds again in the direction that she had come from. Later that night, after tearing off her cannions while her mate was gone and chaning into a simple dress and then falling asleep while waiting for him, she woke up. She found her mate sitting in the same winged back chair he sat in when she had that colossal hang over. She carefully sat up and averted her gaze, looking at the ground rather than looking into his dark, hard stare.

"Will you ever go against my orders again?" He asked quietly.

She kept looking down. "Not any time soon," she said just as quietly as he had spoken to her.

"Who was it?" He asked.

She closed her eyes to remember. "He said his name was Ian Derbith. Long hair, a face that other women would like to look at, red plaid over his shoulder with a big sword and bow."

"Derbith. . ." he contemplated the name.

"You know who he is?" She asked.

"By name. I know he works for Hartmann from time to time, doing his dirty work that the so called noble won't do himself," he growled.

Arielle finally looked up at him from under droopy eyelids. "I'll never disobey you again. You were right to keep me inside."

"I will let you out around the castle but not outside without me," he said sternly.

The woman nodded and then caught sight of her face in the mirror. She grimaced and then closed her eyes and lay her head back down on the pillows. The Kurgan stood, like he did at her hangover, and then crawled over to her on his hands and knees. He sat on the bed next to her and pulled her into his arms.

She buried her head under the pillows and blankets. "Why do you hide from me pretty?" He asked her form under the blankets.

Her voice came out muffled against the fabric. "How can you stand to look at me? It's awful. I did this to myself, I don't want you seeing."

He raised an eyebrow and then smirked. He threw back the covers and saw her curled up, trying to hide her face. "Don't hide from me," he said in a voice of gentle command. He lifted her chin up to look at him and he looked into her deep brown eyes. He gathered her close and pressed his lips firmly to hers. He rolled on top of her and she looked at him timidly.

The innocent look in her eyes she gave that he knew wasn't true drove him mad with desire. He brushed a lock of hair out of her face and looked at her bruised skin. He looked at her with a strange calmness in his eyes that reminded her of a predator watching its prey. He looked up and out towards the balcony doors. He was going to kill the spy if he found him anyways but now he could have some fun. Torture was a talent of his.

She peeked up at him and burrowed closer to his side, taking in his smoky earthy smell. He smirked without looking at her and wrapped his arm tighter around her shoulders in a possessive manner, his fingers digging into her arm but she didn't mind. She looked up at him and could almost see the wheels turning in his head.

"What are you thinking Kurgan?" She asked.

"I'm going to go look for Derbith. I'll be in the woods and won't come back until I take his head," he replied nonchalantly.

Arielle sat up and looked at him with a skeptical expression. "And when did you decide this?"

"Just now," he said.

She scowled and then got up and straddled his lap. "Absolutely not. You will wait for him to come to us, do you understand?" Her voice echoed his own from his previous orders to her the day before.

Her skirt had hitched up to her upper thighs and he rubbed his palms against her legs, moving up. "And who are you to give me orders?"

She gave him a haughty look of superiority and looked down her nose to him, "The one woman alive who can hurt you," she said.

She tried to sound menacing but The Kurgan couldn't help but smile. His blue eyes darkened and he saw her composure somewhat falter, the confidence in her eyes flickered. He grabbed her wrists and yanked her closer so that her nose touched his.

He smirked, "Oh course you are."

Suddenly he moved quick and flung her to her back, leaning in close and pinning her down with his body weight. She squirmed beneath him but he didn't move and she couldn't escape. He smirked when she gave up and sighed, her gaze drifted off to the side and he laughed.

From the forest that Arielle had visited a pair of dark green eyes watched the torch light in the master's chambers flicker and cast shadows of the figures within on the walls. His lips pulled back in a disgusted sneer and he turned away. A man on a grand grey stallion was waiting in a glen a few minutes away, he wore grand clothes of a higher status, grey eyes and white hair complete with a beard. Derbith stopped next to the horse and looked up at his employer.

"Hartmann," he said plainly, addressing him.

The other man raised his eyebrows, "That's Duke or Lord Hartmann to you spy." His voice held arrogant authority over the other man.

Derbith smirked in amusement, "I have no lord, only someone paying for my services."

"Well then you'd best address the source of your money properly if you wish to be paid at all," Hartmann said smugly.

The Scot rolled his eyes, "I know where they sleep. All that needs to happen is him to be gone or her lured out here. She's capable of escaping the castle unnoticed."

The duke thought about it, "Going in would be too difficult. He's a demon and demons don't sleep. That's how one of my other spies was killed; caught in the dead of night." He stroked his beard in thought, "We'll have to get her outside somehow."

Derbith was quick to think, "We'll leave them for a fortnight and at the first sign of them lowering their defenses we'll strike." When he saw his employer give a look of contempt at his plan he added, "Yes it'll take more time to wait, but once we have her we'll take her to the castle he doesn't know about. You'll have more than enough time to do what you plan to do."

At that his lord grinned and then nodded and turned his horse towards his castle, flying off into the night.


	7. Chapter 7

**I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and happy new Year! Here's something to kick off the new year for you all. Enjoy! **

Just as Derbith said, they waited a fortnight. While there were no more signs of an attack The Kurgan still felt wary about leaving her side. He let her venture around the castle when he was gone but ordered her to never go outside without him. She didn't like it but she accepted it. Day after day and she would walk around the castle while her mate was out scowering the land for Ian Derbith. It simple infuriated him that he couldn't track the man and find him, on the other hand he respected the man for being such a difficult adversary and giving a good chase.

Near the end of the fortnight period The Kurgan was standing in the courtyard looking out at the front of his land as the sun set. He heard footsteps behind but didn't turn around. It wasn't until Arielle stood right next to him did he look down at her. He snaked a possessive arm around her waist and she pressed herself close to him.

"I said you weren't to go outside." He said.

She grinned slightly, "I figured since I'm with you I'd be safe. After all you're The Kurgan, the strongest, fiercest man in all the world."

He grinned at her words, "You speak the truth woman."

"Well of course I do," she retorted. "Why ever would I lie to you? You'd know." She looked up at him with an eyebrow raised and smirked at him.

He growled in his throat and then pulled her up and smashed her lips to his in his possessive way, but on the edge of it Arielle could feel a slight desperation to his action. To help calm that edge she gently pressed her palm to his cheek and pressed her body closer to his, giving him more desperation than he was letting off. He felt it and dragged her inside to their bed. Almost an hour later Arielle was laying on her stomach, completely spent from their vigorous love making. The Kurgan, however, sat on the edge of the bed with only his trousers on.

He sat thinking hard about how best to catch this Derbith man, he looked at the floor darkly and then stood and realized he was completely obsessed with finding this man. Well shouldn't he be? His mate was in danger, his only mate, his life mate. This was his last chance with her and he would do anything to ensure the rest of their never ending future. He stood up and walked over to the balcony doors, leaned on his arm against one of the opened door frames and stared out over the land. Nothing stirred in the light of the half moon shining down.

Silently he shut the door and drew the drapes, blocking the outside world from his own within. He turned back and went back to the bed, he climbed under the covers and firmly held his woman against his body, he felt her gentle breathing and in that instant she became very delicate. No woman had ever brought that feeling out in him. He wasn't a poet and so wasn't about to compared her to anything but she was indeed precious to him. With resentment he closed his eyes to sleep and gather strength to hunt down and destroy Derbith.

* * *

Something called to her, something in the waking world.

Arielle's eyes slowly opened and she laid on her back trying to listen. She carefully looked over and saw her master with his back turned to her, his side went up and down as he breathed in his sleep. She sat up and reached out for her robe on the chair beside the bed, a violet colored one with white fur trim and gold threaded leaves.

She tied it around herself snugly and went to the window directly across from her spot on the bed. Looking out she saw nothing, no night prowling animals, no people, not even the trees moved. It was then that she decided she must be dreaming. She heard a soft thudding outside her door, it sounded so distant that it had to be coming from somewhere in the castle. She looked at her sleeping mate and firmly believed she was dreaming because he hadn't stirred when she heard the noise and she knew him to leap out of bed at any sound throughout his domain.

She grinned sleepily, "_He must be exhausted. Pushing himself for days without sleep trying to catch Derbith._" Another soft thud reached her ears.

In her sleepy haze she only wanted to find out what the noise was and then return to her bed. She stifled a yawn and then silently left the room. No thought of danger crossed her mind. Moonlight streamed in through the tall windows down the corridor and helped light her way to the staircase. She carefully descended them and as she neared the bottomed her curiosity turned to irritation and she hurried silently to find the noise and stop it so she could sleep again.

She followed the noise to the library, a place she was fond of. She pushed open the heavy oak door and it swung inward. She looked around the room but didn't see anything amiss. The thudding came again but now it came from around a corner to the right of her. She padded into the library on barefeet and brushed passed the chairs and book shelves. Despite being a more brutish Immortal, The Kurgan had set up an extensive collection of works from around the world. He never read them of course but being a count he felt he had an obligation to fill a library in his castle, Arielle was glad he did.

She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and finally spotted the window that was open. It was a simple window, about five feet tall, three feet wide. It sat in a little alcove and was level with her waist at the sill. It was one that would open and close, unlike most of the others in the library that were made to never open. It was mainly used in the summer to keep a breeze rolling through in the hot days. It was fall now and the window shouldn't have been open but Arielle still believed she was dreaming and so didn't think anything of it.

She felt the cold of the night air come in and shivered as she tightened her robe again. When she reached the window she paused to look out at the moon lit landscape. She looked up at the sky and saw the half moon surrounded by brightly glittering stars, she never had that good of a view in her old world. As she admired the sky she failed to see a figure just outside the window, flush against the wall. She yawned again and leaned forward on her elbows, the figure looked up, dark green eyes glinted in the moon light.

Arielle reached out for the open panes and out of the darkness something shot out and firmly latched onto her forearm. She tried to scream but the sound was lost as she was roughly yanked forward and tumbled head over heels into the outside world. She slammed down hard on her back and further breath was lost, she struggled to regain it. Her 'dream' quickly turned into a dark nightmare as the figure revealed himself to her; Ian Derbith.

Just as she was about to scream again he swooped down and turned her over, shoving a cloth in her mouth and tying another one around it. She struggled and was reminded of a time when The Kurgan did the same exact thing to her. He yanked her up by her hair and then tied her hands together in the front and in a twist he used the rest of the rope to tie around her waist, locking her wrists firmly in place against her body. Her eyes desperately looked back at the library window as Derbith forcefully dragged her away, all that was left were her tears on the grass.

Not a sound was made.


	8. Chapter 8

The Kurgan shot up in bed. It was almost morning and the sun was just barely beginning to reach the horizon. As soon as he looked to the side and found her gone he went into a rage because he knew. He knew that if she wasn't with him in bed that she wasn't in the castle at all. He sprang out of bed and went to work putting together his dark armor that he kept ready on its stand. He stormed downstairs and bellowed for everyone to wake up. When the household was alert he told the men to go to the village and gather an army to gather immidiately.

They all may have been uneducated servants but they knew why he was ordering an army for immediate action and they knew to obey quick. He saddled his own horse and thundered out of the stables. He drove the creature hard as he burned down the road getting to Hartmann. Once at the castle he turned his steed ato the side and kicked the doors in, an easy feat for someone like him, and then turned forward again and rode to the main hall, he could hear voices coming from there.

"Hartmann!" He shouted.

To his disappointment three of Hartmann's sons sat at the table but not the lord himself, the eldest looked up from his guests surrounding him, he looked shocked at The Kurgan's appearance. His false surprise turned to anger and he stood up, his palms pressed against the table. "What is the meaning of this atrocity Count Von Krohn!?" He shouted steadily.

The Kurgan glared at him, "Where is she?!"

The elder son raised an eyebrow, "Whom ever could you be speaking about?"

His sister snickered rudely and stole little glances at the Black Knight. He shot her glares that killed her haughtiness with a pale face.

"You know damned well who!" He shouted and then dismounted and strode forever. He grabbed the younger man's ridiculously elaborate jerkin and shook him once so hard that his feathered hat fell to the ground. "My woman! A woman so fine and beautiful that she puts your whores and pig sister to shame!" The young women at the table looked at him in deep offence and shock, their jaws hung open and one stood angrily only to be pulled back down by down by her younger friend next to her. The Kurgan flicked his gaze to her and then turned his attention back to the Hartmann son. The young man looked back into eyes more like black holes.

The son was starting to lose his composure at the sight of his eyes, "I-I don't know what you're talking about Von Krohn." He was shaken again, "Count Von Krohn!" He corrected himself.

No guards were in the room, only waiting servants and they were too afraid to move, entranced as they were by The Kurgan's will to come in unannounced and begin attacking their lord's son. A man with such audacity no doubt had the strength to back his actions. They quietly stood by with mouths agape like everyone else. The Kurgan growled loudly and then swung the man to the side towards the table, clearing the plates and cups and food, slamming him to the hard wood surface. The air left the noble with a whoosh. The giant shook him again and his head smacked against the wood, dazing him.

"Where?!" He shouted in his face.

"I said I know naught!" The other man screamed, his haughty bravado cracked in his voice and he looked up terrified at the man above him. "I-I had no word that she was even missing!"

Suddenly the same sister who stood up before stood up again, "Let him go you brute! You filthy animal! Guards! Make haste!" She shouted.

The Kurgan stopped and stared at her brother while she continued to talk. Seeing the dark pleasure from thoughts forming in his head the Hartmann son became terrified for his hard-headed sister. He knew that her defiance would be her undoing, but he didn't stop her.

The girl went on, "You come here calling me and my ladies whores when your own woman is the true whore! We do not sleep around with brutish animals such as her. I hear she speak with a different tongue, she does not attend mass, she does not wear her hair properly! _She _the true whore you speak of! Now release my brother or our guards will end you, count or not!"

The dark haired giant didn't smile; he now had a new target. He threw the man in his hands to the ground and then stood up and quickly stalked towards her, his eyes pitch black. Her confidence disappeared quicker than a fox from the hunt. Her form seemed to shrink when he reached her and grabbed her neck and lifted her up into the air, slowly choking her and enjoying every second of it. Another shrieked and stood up, her mother. She grabbed his arm, yanking on it trying to make him drop her. He swung his arm and she was flung to the ground. As he choked the foolish woman he looked deep into her eyes and she had to look back, her blue eyes bulging from a red face. The other's in the hall stood there stupidly watching, unable to interfere.

Just as it seemed she was about to die the guards rushed in with their lances and swords. They rushed to him and he threw the woman towards the window. It shattered and she flew through it, landing the four feet to the ground and rolled through the grass. She lay on her back choking and crying as bits of glass stabbed her through her dress and her face. He drew his own sword and skewered the first man through and through. He kicked the body off his blade and brought it down the next mans helmet, going straight through to the brain, he kicked that one off too.

The lords and ladies in the hall scattered, screaming and some went to the aid of the Hartmann daughter. The Kurgan met the third man with brutality and the blows he delivered easily forced them back. Over and over from above and the sides he swung his sword, catching them in its deadly path. Soon he had hacked his way to his horse which was still standing patiently at the other end of the table. He mounted and looked back at the eldest Hartmann son.

"Another time Hartmann!" He shouted before turning and riding out.

His mission had been to find Duke Hartmann and take him back to torture him for the location of Arielle, he now knew that where ever the Duke was, Arielle was also. He'd come back and lay siege to the castle, perhaps capture the Hartmann children along the way and torture them, although he doubted they knew much. Their father was known for his strategic ways and The Kurgan wondered if he had told his children and wife anything at all.

"_No matter_," he thought to himself. _"That will be his undoing. They'll be collateral for my woman, every last one will pay for her with their death."_

He went along the road he came that led directly from his castle to theirs and it wasn't very long before he found his army massing in his village. He decided to gather more, to overwhelm Hartmann, and decided to go to his few allies. He knew he had allies in the Outlands hungry for war and he would supply them with sustenance.


	9. Chapter 9

**This chapter sort of goes hand in hand with the last so I wanted to upload it almost right away. I had to do a little research to find a natural sedative that would be around in Europe, Valerian root. A natural sedative thaat when taken in large doeses can do what it did to Arielle. I'll be using that other little natural herbs will be used in further chapters. Enjoy. . .**

When Derbith got the struggling woman back to his horse he held her with one arm and with the other pulled out a normal looking bottle that would normally hold wine. He ripped the cork off with his teeth and then forced Arielle to open her mouth, she tried biting him once he slapped her and then shoved the bottle neck halfway in her mouth. He plugged her nose and squeezed her jaw, forcing her to swallow the strange tasting concoction inside. She tried shaking her head to rid her mouth of it but Derbith wouldn't let her. She was forced to ingest it all.

Almost instantly her head felt dizzy and she became terribly disorientated. She stopped struggling and Derbith could feel her body relax in his arms. He grinned and nodded, after which hauling her up into the saddle and jumping up behind her. He quickly rode to Hartmann's castle and was met by the very man himself on the front steps.

He looked at the woman closely while he put on his riding gloves and readied to jump into his own saddle. "What ever did you do to her? She's usually such a fighter."

"Valerian root is more than useful when dealing with hysterical women," the spy replied with a grin.

They laughed and rode off to another castle far to the east, one that no one knew one outside of his family knew about.

* * *

When she awoke she jumped and right away knew she was tied to a bed. . .again. She could feel it in her wrists. She looked around and began yanking at the ropes. Instead of how The Kurgan would tie her with her hands above her head, this time her bonds led to the sides so that she was forced to have her arms out wide. She felt so exposed and despised it. During her struggles the door swung open and Duke Hartmann strode in with several men behind him. They fanned out to the sides of the room and the last one shut the door, Hartmann stood at the foot of the bed, smiling at Arielle, she glared back.

Suddenly she scoffed and threw her head back, "Oh I just knew it! I knew it was you! He had suspicion but I knew." She glared at him.

He raised a questioning eyebrow. "You dare speak to me without being addressed first?"

She stared him in the eye, "Yes." She replied with an icy tone.

He grinned, "Well Kurgan Whore, you have a lot to learn about your place."

"My place!? Don't you tell me about my place!" she shouted.

He grinned, "Are you frightened of being away from you protector whore?"

"My name is Arielle!" she shouted again. Her mind quickly processed that he had referred to The Kurgan as her protector, the idea that making it seem like The Kurgan didn't care for her made her hope that Hartmann would release her. She put her idea to words, "Protector you say? No, he doesn't care for me. I am simple a play thing for him until he finds a new woman." Even as she said it the idea seemed like a bad one, after all her had showed her off enough that she to everyone else she seemed more important to him that a mere sex slave.

Hartmann examined her robe closely. "Well he must care about you somewhat. He dresses you finely. Since I have known him I have never seen him dress more extravagantly than he does when he wears his black armor. Not even at the ball you two attended did he dress finer than this simple robe you wear."

"It's just a robe, there's nothing special about it," she replied with a hard glare in her eyes.

He laughed once, "Gold thread embroidered, white fur, velvet? Come now my whoring sweet," his comment only fueled her anger, " he must care about you if he dresses you so finely. It's obvious that while he doesn't care about what he looks like he wants everyone to see you."

Her cheeks burned as he spoke the truth and she knew it. She knew he called her lie and proved it but she was desperate to keep denying it. "Foolish old man! The Kurgan isn't one to care about how he looks! He's not an effete git like you!" She shouted. "I am a slave to him he doesn't care about me! H-he gave me a choice when he bought me; either fight him and-and suffer, or submit to his every wish and live a privileged life. I chose life." She spat the words at him, in a way she had chosen life but not as his slave.

He chuckled and shook his head as if he knew something she didn't and he couldn't wait to tell her. She guessed he probably did.

He looked at her and that arrogant light was in his eyes. "He came to my family's castle demanding to know where his mate was. He attacked my family." She paled and closed her eyes. "I can only assume that means you because you're the only woman he kept with him who wasn't a servant. The Kurgan's mate."

"This is so.. . .so! So fucking infuriating!" She screamed, using a favorite word of hers from her past life that she hardly used anymore. She opened her eyes and glared at him again, he looked surprised. "How many times do I have to scream at you that I don't matter to him!? Keeping me here is pointless because he'll never come!"

THWACK!

The sound was loud, hard, and sharp. Arielle gasped and her jaw hurt from the impact of his slap to her face. She sat back up and a red hand print was imprinted on her fair skin, the print even began to welt. She looked at the man steadily, her gaze never so much as flickering to the other men in the room. A few thin strands of his carefully placed grey hair had come undone and the arrogant look turned into something else. Something Arielle couldn't place. He was hunched over and his breathed in deep while looking at her, his eyes grazing over her body. She sneered at him and then sniffed and looked away.

Without looking at his men he commanded them, "Leave us."

They silently nodded and then left. Hartmann looked at Arielle hungrily and slowly stalked forwards. Despite the fact that she was a whore to The Kurgan she was woman, and a desirable one at that. He got on his knees on the edge of the bed and it was then that Arielle knew what he had planned, her breath quickened and each gasp made her chest heave rapidly. She still refused to look at him, keeping her eyes tightly shut. She pulled the ties that held her wrists and her biceps flexed with feminine muscle. Very quickly she felt his hot breath on the exposed skin of her neck. She felt his cold fingers reach out and slide past her high collar, coming to a stop wrapped around her neck.

He kissed her neck once, twice, three times. With one hand he undid the small buttons on the front of her robe one by one until he could open it enough to slide down one shoulder and kiss the skin. He saw the goose bumps appear and grinned. Suddenly he shoved her down and she slammed against the bed roughly. She opened her eyes and concentrated on staring at the window across from the bed, just like the one across from where she slept at her castle. She willed The Kurgan to hear her mental cries for help. Hartmann kissed her collar bone and she suddenly thrust her knee up, catching him in the groin.

He cried out and rolled off of her, cupping his hurting goods. She couldn't help but smirk at her work, the smirk turned into a fully fledged smile. She almost even laughed but knew that that would bring something worse than a slap. She suppressed some snide comments and laughs and continued looking at the wall. She heard him huff in anger as he recovered and stood up on his knees on the bed, he looked at the woman.

"Bitch!" He shouted.

Quick for a man his age he bolted to her and leaned in close, crushing her with his body weight, his breath was rancid and he pulled out a dagger, shoving it close to her face. She put on a cold glare of defiance. His breathing was ragged and Arielle squirmed beneath him.

"By all accounts I should gut you now," he looked down at her chest and then back up at her face. "But I am a merciful man and I've never killed a woman before." He sat back and used the dagger to toy with the chain that her red crystal hung from. "Although I'm not sure just exactly what you are. You speak very differently from me, though I understand you I feel like I should not. You have this air about you that I've never seen before and I don't understand you or why The Kurgan has kept you for as long as he has." He leaned in close again, his face just inched from hers. "Do you know what he's down to other woman in that castle? The rape, the torture, the beatings even." When she said nothing he laughed once very softly in his throat. "No I don't believe you do. But you? He gave you things he has never given his other women, treated you like no other he's had before. You lived past three moons."

She grinned at that, "You have no idea where I come from, or how I came to be here. What my love and I have gone through to be together," she looked at him and the determined glint in her eye was unusual for a woman in Hartmann's time. "Yes, we are mates. He does love me and I him and he _is _coming for me. You better pray for your soul Lord Hartmann because that's all that will be spared from his wrath when he finds me here. We will always be together, even in death, and nothing you do will stop it!"

Her words sent a chill down his spine because she said them with no hesitation or stuttering. He moved away from her and then stood up.

"We'll see," he said with ice lacing his voice.

He turned and left the room, but not without some obvious discomfort. As soon as the door slammed shut behind him Arielle blew out the air she had kept inside. She didn't feel adrenaline or panic, she felt that this was a situation that called for being calm in the face of danger. She knew that she wasn't going to escape the ties on her wrists any time soon so she decided to try and send out mental signals for her mate to follow, maybe if it worked he would find her.

**Can Arielle have a temper to match her mate or what? I've been really inspired lately and my keybaord is on fire. More to come soon. : )**


	10. Chapter 10

The Hartmann castle was nearly destroyed. The family inside had fled to somewhere else, The Kurgan didn't very much care. After he reached the Outlands he called on the war lords there and three clans pledged themselves to fight for him. They had been tired of waiting around for war and to fight along-side The Kurgan was an opportunity they wouldn't miss. They followed him and his already gathered army and marched to the front gates of Hartmann Castle, the family inside fled through underground tunnels as he would find out later.

With his fury fully behind him, he easily broke down the doors and stormed inside. To his agitation and disappointment the castle was near deserted. The family gone, few servants left, no guards to speak of. It was then that The Kurgan decided that Hartmann had another castle somewhere close by, after all his family wasn't about to go a long distance when escaping him. In a rage he flew threw the castle, tearing down doors and setting fire to every room.

By the time he made his way out of the burning castle the Outland men had ransacked every room and taken what they wanted. The servants were all beheaded, the women given to The Kurgan's men to do what they want with. Their screams were like music to his ears. One of the Outland men had with him a giant beast of a dog, what The Kurgan knew was called a Mastiff in Arielle's world, here it was just a beast dog. It had wandered away from its master somewhere in the castle and was sticking close to The Kurgan. The man didn't mind because the dog fit his taste in animals.

It was this dog that saw another figure creeping closer to the dark haired giant he stood next to, and the animal knew the other human meant harm. It growled and bared its fangs, when the would-be attacker lept from his hiding place with lance in hand he screamed and charged The Kurgan. But he didn't feel afraid and readied himself quickly for the surprise attack but before he could strike the dog launched himself at the attacker's throat, catching the flesh with his saber like teeth. Blood gushed forth and the scream the man emitted turned into blood filled gurgles and he went down but the dog didn't stop there.

It ripped and tore away at the man's throat and The Kurgan stood over them both grinning at the dog's ferocity. He liked this beast, it was just as vicious and unforgiving as him. He snapped his fingers when the man was dead and the dog instantly let up, turning to its new master with a blood covered face and a doggish smile. It went to The Kurgan's side and even followed him when he mounted his horse, trotting to a hill overlooking the scene of carnage. He looked behind him at the land that stretched farther to the north and west, some niggling in the back of his head pulled him that way. It was as if Arielle was calling for help and he could feel it instead of hear it.

He rode back to the burning castle and saw another man, a man who looked to be of higher rank, pulled out of the stables and thrown to his knees in the courtyard. Just as an Outlander man was about to behead him The Kurgan stopped him.

"Stay your blade!" he shouted. "This isn't just another servant." He knocked the man's feathered cap off his head and grabbed his face, looking closely. He chuckled darkly. "I know who you are boy. You're Hartmann's second son aren't you? What are you doing here I wonder. . ." He let go of his face and then swung his gauntlet covered fist and hit the side of his head with a muted thud. The men standing close by smirked and winced at the harsh act.

The Hartmann son shook his head and bloody saliva dribbled down his chin when he looked back at The Kurgan, he spit at his enemy's boots. The Kurgan simply laughed and grabbed his hair and pulled him up close to his face.

"My name, is Angus," he said arrogantly.

The Kurgan brought his hand across the boy's face a second time and blood splattered his boots.

"Why are you here? I thought your family left. What did you come back for?" He growled the words and the other man shook.

"He was with her my Lord," another Outlander threw a young servant woman to the ground next to him.

The Kurgan sneered, "Sticking a servant Hartmann? Ha! And you Hartmanns claim to be pure nobility. I'm willing to think that your real mother was a whoring servant woman as well." He chuckled. When he looked at the woman he did a double take. There around her neck was the pendant he had given Arielle. He surged forward and the woman screamed when he grabbed the chain and yanked it off. He turned back to Hartmann while the woman cried. He shoved the chain in the young man's face. "Where is she!? Where is the other castle!?"

"I-I don't know what you're talking about. . ." he stuttered pathetically.

The Kurgan growled and grabbed his jerkin, shaking him until his brain hurt inside his skull. The dog beside him growled at Hartmann. "That is the worst explanation ever said! Now tell me what I demand to know!"

The boy shook his head but his gaze unwillingly flicked from The Kurgan to a path that led west from the castle. The Kurgan turned his head and caught sight of the path, he grinned evilly and turned back to face Hartmann. He looked at the woman that Hartmann had been trying to save and then grinned and chuckled low in his throat.

"Do you love her?" He demanded in his low gravely voice.

There was no reply, only the frightened whimpers of the woman with Hartmann.

The Kurgan answered for him, ""Of course you do. Why else would you come back during a raid to save her?" He stood and turned to the Outlander nearest him. "Make her scream," he began walking away, "And make him watch."

The echoes of the screaming woman comforted him while the men ripped off her clothing and began their brutal assault.

He made his way back to the ring of Outland Clan leaders that were standing by the fire watching their men fight. Themselves were covered in blood and they watched smiling and talking about about the glory of destruction. He reached them and then bowed in respect to the mighty Kurgan.

He didn't even acknowledge the gesture, they didn't mind. "We ride West." He said simply. "There is another castle where my prize is being kept. That is our next target." The dog beside him looked up at him and he reached down absentmindedly to pat him on the head.

The other men nodded and one spoke up, "When do you wish to ride out my lord?"

He looked back at the Hartmann son and the men raping the woman. The others followed his gaze. "A scout will be sent and when the castle is found we will send the boy's body to his father. Then we will march to Hartmann's true gates."

With the castle in full blaze and chaos all around The Kurgan took his newly found dog companion and the two trotted off into the the woods that bordered Hartmann and Von Krohn land. He found a large tree with the roots upraised and let his horse loose to roam and graze. He then settled down and created a small fire, the silence of the forest brought him time to think and all of his thoughts were on his mate. He could feel her emotions and was proud that he felt her fury instead of fear. If there had been fear he would have set off immediately but for now it seemed that she was holding her own battle against Hartmann, where ever they were.

The dog settled down near his feet and was snoring in a matter of minutes, blood still coated his fur and The Kurgan liked having this new pet around. It was a dog befitting him.

That night he dreamed of Arielle.

_It seemed more than a dream though as he walked through some unfamiliar forest, he felt that he was meeting someone there but didn't know who. The answer emerged from a clump of trees ahead of him. There she was; his mate perfectly unharmed in the strange woods. He rushed to her and crushed her in his arms. She wrapped hers around his middle and squeezed but her grip was light and he hardly felt it. He scooped her up and smashed his lips to hers in desperation._

_There was that desperation she felt before. As he held her she couldn't help the tears that fell and tried to stop them. When he kissed her she whimpered and wrapped a leg around his. She tried to press her body as close to his as she could and filled her movements with fear and desperation. He felt it and pulled his lips away from hers, tilting his head back and groaning. He looked down at her and then growled and cradled her against his chest._

_"Where are you?" He demanded to know._

_She shook her head, "I don't know my love, I don't know. Derbith forced me to drink this weird thing and it drugged me. I heard something about valerian root." She hurriedly explained._

_He looked down at her fiercely. "You must resist them in any way you can! Do not drink it!"_

_"I'm fighting them any chance I get Kurgan. I won't give in without a fight, I won't!" She shouted and then buried her face back against his chest. "I'm fighting so hard Kurgan. So hard."_

_She sounded exhausted at it made him furious. She laid he head against his chest and he held her while they sat down together with his back to a tree. _

He held her tight and in the waking world it looked like he was holding her.


	11. Chapter 11

The day she woke up again was dark and dismal. Under any other condition she liked the rain and clouds but being tied to a stranger's bed while her mate was out there looking for her didn't do anything to help her mood. She was laying on her back with her arms aching in their outstretched position, staring out the window. Following the rain droplets down the window pane.

It had been four days since she was taken and she hated it. For the most part Hartmann had left her alone, he sent a serving woman at meal times to feed her, an armed guard to watch her when she had to relieve herself. Other than that she was left alone. While she liked not having him stare at her being without her mate for the first time since she gave in to him in her last world gave her a sickening empty feeling in her stomach.

She sighed again as her thought turned to the pendant that The Kurgan had given her. Hartmann had taken it and given it to his daughter, but when her brother came to her asking for a gift to give to a woman he was courting she gave it to him. That was unknown to Arielle and shewas heartbroken over its loss.

Suddenly she bolted upright when the door slammed open and Hartmann stormed in, his face red and his expression one of complete rage. He went to the side of the bed and then grabbed her hair and yanked her close to him.

"Your 'mate' destroyed my castle! He laid waste to everything! The village! My home!" He let go of her and stood up looking towards the door. "Enter!" He shouted. A man walked holding a silver tray, on top of which was a green plant and a pewter goblet. He turned back to her and leaned in close. "He killed my son! My second son Angus! That demon killed him!" His hand made contact with her smooth cheek with a hard smack. She fell to the side with a yelp but Hartmann grabbed her robe and yanked her back to him. "My daughter's face was ruined when he threw her through a window, my wife is ill from the horror of it, and my son is dead!"

She glared at him with a look that reminded him of The Kurgan. "And that's not even half of the terror he will cause!" She shouted. "You should never have taken me, you've doomed yourself old man!"

His eyes went as big as she had ever seen them and he ushered the tray bearer forward, a old man who had to be older than Hartmann. The man came forward in a rushed, yet dignified, manner and his lord snatched the root off the try. He grinned wolfishly at Arielle and she looked at the root warily. She knew what was coming and she tried to brace herself to resist. He grabbed her cheeks in one hand and forced her open but as soon as his fingers touched her lips she bit him.

He yowled and yanked his hand back. He looked at his fingers and just as he raised his hand to hit her again someone grabbed him. Arielle looked and her stomach sank when she saw that it was Derbith. He hadn't made a sound when he entered the room and she had been hoping he left, it was obvious he hadn't. He looked at Arielle and smiled.

"Let me assist you Duke Hartmann," he said happily.

The flustered Duke gave the root to Derbith. The other man looked at it and then sat ontop of Arielle and squeezed her jaw open. He bite off a piece of the root and chewed it then put his mouth to her's and as she struggled to push him away he gave her the chewed root and his poisoned saliva. When he pulled away he forced her mouth closed and kept it closed, the root stuffed in her mouth made it difficult to breath and was forced to swallow. She gagged and gasped for breath but as she did he went in a second time and forced the rest of the root into her system.

As she sputtered and gagged and gasped for breath Derbith gently took Hartmann's elbow and guided him to the door where the third man in the room had just exited through to wait for further instructions. Derbith turned to his employer and raised an eyebrow.

"If you're going to kidnap someone, think carefully when you decide to drug them. Don't feed her so regularly anymore, move her to a servant's room. She's being treated far too lavishly for a prisoner. Would you treat a prisonaer of war this way?" His tone mocked the Duke to no end.

The duke sniffed haughtily and glanced back at Arielle. "I suppose you're right. Her rations will be cut to one a day and she'll be moved to the west wing where the servants stay. That bitch of a woman will pay for the death of my son. And you're sure using this over time will do things to her mind? Such as making her forget who she is?"

Derbith nodded, "Put it in her food, her drink. Dry it, crush it, mix it. As long as you give it to her all day every day and keep Von Krohn at bay long enough it'll do thing to her head."

He began walking to the room Hartmann had provided for him when the duke stopped him for a moment. "Why didn't you suffer from the effects of the root? You must had swallowed some yourself."

At that Derbith smiled and laughed, "I am quite familiar with Valerian root my lord. I use it often on women and have grown immune to its effects. She on the other hand is like a virgin to it, it'll work quickly enough."

Hartmann nodded and then turned with his tray carrying man beside him, a few steps respectively behind him. He grinned to himself and thought that he was the genius, his servant echoed his thoughts.

"A wise choice hiring the Derbith man," the old servant said. "He is proving to be most useful indeed."

Hartmann didn't look at him when he spoke, "Yes it was rather smart to take him on for this. He knows how to reign in woman like the Kurgan Woman. Now with his ideas though I won't need his assistance with that particular dilemma. Go to the kitchens and have the cook gather as much valerian root as he can find. Have him dry it and add it to everything that woman eats from here on out." The old man nodded and departed down a servant's stairwell that led to the kitchens.

Feeling proud of himself, Hartmann made his way to his youngest son, Bronson. The youngest in the Hartmann family his father saw him as the smartest of his children and held him in higher regards than even his first born son. Bronson was the one who he trusted with any information concerning the woman and had another idea he needed to discuss with him.

* * *

The Kurgan stood by his dog companion. The beast sniffed the air and kept its gaze in the direction its master was looking; west. In the Immortal's hands was the necklace he gave to his woman, his fists tightened as he recalled that day. He spun on his heel and marched back to tent where his Outland clan leaders were preparing a form of attack, they were planning on sending a smaller force to the front of the castle and when all of Hartmann's forces were distracted and concentrated on the front the rest of their armies would attack from the back. Destroying everything and everyone in their path was an order direct from The Kurgan.

He sat on his fur covered cot and began cleaning his sword while he vaguely listened to the other leaders speak. His trail of thought led to the moment he had killed the Hartmann brat after the woman was raped and beheaded. The boy had screamed so pathetically and for an instant The Kurgan knew that Angus resented his father's actions because he knew how it felt to have the woman you loved taken from you. Arielle wasn't dead yet and The Kurgan knew it but he wanted every Hartmann to suffer for the head of the family's actions.

He had plans for the women of the family and the three other sons. The one he wanted most though was the Duke himself. He was going to take his time with that one. Gut him slowly, make him watch his own insides fall to the dirt, watch as his wife and daughter were raped and then strangled by Von Krohn hands. Yes, there was going to be blood, more than what was spilled during the destruction of Hartmann castle. The Kurgan wanted more Hartmann blood, he craved it now. In vengeance for taking his woman his wanted their blood on his hands and he was going to have it.

Finally the Chieftain of the Outlanders, Hargarath, nodded his head. He looked up solemnly and turned to The Kurgan sitting on his cot watching them. He kneeled and placed one fist to the ground, the other hand was draped over his upright knee.

He bowed his head, "Count Von Krohn, my lord," he said. "Our plan is finished, with what the scouts could tell us of the land we know the terrain and can use it to our advantage."

The Kurgan studied the weathered tan face of the Outlander. Outlanders were proud people, strong in numbers and skill and didn't fear death. He felt that they were like a clan of Immortals who didn't know their own strength. He also liked to associate himself with the only people he felt truly at ease around. His blue eyes stared hard at Hargarath and the Outlander felt like his Lordship could see through his very soul. Finally the Count spoke.

"We march at first light, and won't stop until I have what I'm after." He said. His word was final.

Nodding in understanding, Hargarath stood up and the other leaders followed him they left The Kurgan to his sleep and own preparation. As he walked away he heard the whispers about the woman their master was after. They had never seen her but word spread far about the dreaded Kurgan taking a mate. At first it was thought that she was another slave, a glorified one at that and she would be dead after two full moons as he never kept them longer than three. They knew she was different from other women, and that she was beautiful, but what astounded them were the lengths their master was taking to get her back. She had to be of immense value for him to start a war for her.


	12. Chapter 12

**I know how much all of you wanted this chapter. . .but are you ready for it? O_o Enjoy. . .**

Duke Hartmann rushed through the castle. Today was the day he lost and he knew it. His gates were failing and the siege remarkably had lasted a week. In that week he had given Arielle the valerian root every day, and her mind finally began to go. Now her "mate" had breached the gates and his army was almost through. Once he was through Hartmann's game was over. He burst through the door one last time, into the small, dirty servant room she had been in.

Arielle herself wasn't in good shape. Her robe dirty and worn, her eyes tired from trying to fight the valerian root. Her efforts only helped in making the root's effects stronger. At the moment that Hartmann entered the room she was laying back on the bed, her breathing erratic and she head twitching from side to side. If he didn't know any better he'd think she was possessed.

He strode forward and sat her up. "Open your mouth Arielle, you need to drink this."

In a sluggish and confused haze she followed his instructions and drank the root laced water he gave to her. When she finished she fell back on the bed and Hartmann grinned, he laughed and threw the cup back over his shoulder. He then unbuckled his short sword and laid in across her lap, taking her hand and making her grab the hilt.

He leaned in close and whispered into her ear, "Someone is here to hurt you. As I've been telling you He would come. Now he's here and he is coming for your soul. With this sword stab his heart," he looked to her current state. "or try to."

He chuckled and patted her face, taunting her. He stood and hurried from the room. He went to his son Bronson and pushed open his son's bedroom door. There was the young man looking out his window with his hands clasped behind his back while he watched the army breaching the gates. Hartmann walked forward and put a hand on his youngest son's shoulder and looked at the scene with him, both men could see their prime enemy at the head of the siege. The Duke shivered when he saw that Von Krohn seemed to be looking right at him.

"He's finally here father, I told you he would be." He said simply.

Hartmann nodded, "So he is. Remember what I told you, follow every instruction and you will find success. Go to the tower and when the time is right use the tunnel to the outside. Grab her and don't look back. If the chance doesn't come to you, you go to it," he said.

His son glanced at him out of the corner of his eye. "Just why did you kidnap her father? Knowing that this might happen?"

His father grinned and patted his back. "It's an art of war son, kidnapping women. The Kurgan is obsessed with this woman. If he were to impregnate her his spawn would terrorize the earth. Look at how desperately he fights for her, obviously its destroying him with her gone. Remember your orders and wait for the opportune moment." He looked at his son and then wrapped him in a bear hug for the last time with his son hugging him back.

He let him go and turned around, leaving his son to watch as his father's gates fell. There was a surge of men from the outside into the courtyard and screams echoed through the castle and surrounding lands. Bronson watched from his room and when the men entered his home he slipped unnoticed through the corridors until he found a servant stairwell, he went to his hiding place and waited.

* * *

The Kurgan's sword and armor were covered in the blood of his enemies by the time he made it to the upper floors. He turned down the hall and opened every door, kicking it in if it was locked, checking for his mate.

It was one of the last rooms of the hall that he found her behind a locked door. He went to turn the handle but it was locked, he ground his teeth together and kicked it in, it flew back on busted hinges. When he strode into the room she shot up on the bed, pointing a sword at him. Her hand and the sword shook violently and when she saw him her eyes were wide as if she were expecting someone else.

"Kurgan," she said, her voice wasn't normal. Suddenly she closed her terrified eyes and fell back on the bed, the sword falling from her hand.

He shouted, "Arielle!" And stormed forward.

When he reached her he found that she was shaking terribly, unconscious and filthy. He knew that her captors had drugged her repeatedly, with what he wanted to know. If it was to make her talk or to rape her, well either way the Duke was a dead man when The Kurgan found him. He shook her to wake her up and called her name, her response was to moan sadly in her sleep and curl up in a shaky ball against him. He put his sword away and picked her up in his arms, carrying her out of the room.

The Black Knight carried her down the hall and had just reached the stair way when a cool voice behind him spoke, "Where are you going with that woman Von Krohn?"

The Kurgan set her down on the stairs and drew his sword, facing the duke.

"She is my property and since you touched her you will die," he growled.

The other man, though he had fear in his eyes, did not have it in his voice, "Ha! Oh Kurgan if you only knew what I did to her. If you only knew! She should be expecting children in nine months time!" He laughed hard and stared at The Kurgan. His laughter would be his death.

The giant of a man walked up to him and instead of killing him, he killed his guards. When he turned to face Hartmann he sent his sword straight through The Kurgan's gut. At first he gasped in pain and closed his eyes to control the pain, the Duke thought he had won and smiled triumphantly! His victory proved to be false when the dark haired Immortal grabbed the other man's sword by the blade and pulled it out, Hartmann stared in disbelief and hi sword shook with the trembling of his hands.

"What are you?!" He hsouted in terror.

The Kurgan smiled devilshly. "I am The Kurgan, the strongest Immortal who ever lived."

It wasn't much of a battle when The Kurgan grabbed the man and threw him down the stairs. He picked up his woman and then set her down again at the bottom. The Kurgan turned back to his enemy and swung his sword down brutally against the other man's, breaking it. The metal wasn't the only thing broken after Arielle's hero broke both of Hartmann's legs.

After securing the castle and all of its inhabitants The Kurgan made the man watch as his home burned to the ground. When all of the servants had been killed The Kurgan turned to the Duke last and stabbed him in the most valuable place between his legs, blood and other fluids stained his trousers. The man screamed as the giant tortured him and made him admit to drugging her with valerian root. Also admitting that he had plans on raping her but didn't. In the end The Kurgan slit the man from throat to waist and left him lying on the ground in front of his burning castle, his guts laying out around him, blood massed around his body.

He commanded for the Hartmann women, who had been in the castle and captured, to be brought forward. Duke Hartmann sobbed while his wife and daughter were raped in front of him. When the Outlander men were done with the spent women The Kurgan made sure Hartmann was still alive and then strangled them one after the other, the daughter screamed when her mother was killed first. Next he had the bodies of the first and third Hartmann sons brought forward, both had been killed in battle and The Kurgan ordered them to be skewered on tall spikes.

What the Kurgan didn't see behind him was the Duke's last remaining son silently take Arielle off The Kurgan's horse and slip away unnoticed into the forest beyond.

"Von Krohn!" A voice called out.

He spun around and facing him in the midst of all the chaos was Derbith. The Kurgan growled and pointed his sword at the spy.

"You," he growled.

Derbith smirked. "Where's the woman Count?"

The Kurgan spun around and his expression turned to shock, a rare one for him. His eyes turned black and he turned back to look at the Scot but the spy was nowhere to be seen. He stormed back to his horse and saw that no a trace remained of her this time. He looked behind him to the woods and when he didn't see anything he bellowed in rage and swung his sword down into the ground, the blade sunk in to the hilt. He yanked it back out and went to the dying Hartmann Duke.

"Where is she?!" He screamed and yanked the man up by his hair.

The Duke had lost all feeling of pain and looked at The Kurgan with one swollen eye, "You'll never. . .find her now. My son will make sure of that Kurgan," he said in a raspy voice.

With a cold rage The Kurgan threw his hand into the man's open body and yanked out his heart, he held it up for the screaming man to see before throwing it to the side before he keeled over dead.

He jumped up on his horse and thundered off into the night with his dog at his heels. He looked through the surrounding woods but the area was so vast he couldn't cover it in time fast enough. When dawn came he ordered the bodies of the Hartmann family to all be placed on spikes and left for the ravens and hawks to feast on. The blood craving had been satisfied but his woman was still gone.

**O_O Didn't see that coming did you... Was Hartmann's death good enough? More to come soon. . . ;)**


	13. Chapter 13

**This chapter is dedicated to AlmightyWarrior! I hate keeping Arielle and The Kurgan apart. . .but the two have been caught up in another Game besides the one The Kurgan already plays. Enjoy. . .**

For weeks he ventured into the surrounding forest and had his men look for Arielle but they didn't find her. The Kurgan hunted for months afterwards and even had his people hunt for his lost mate. After two months a man brought him Arielle's night robe that The Kurgan saw her in last. Everyone convinced him that she was dead. He went on a rampage and destroyed the Duke's village, killing everyone. His actions made other villages look for the woman but after a time everyone left her for dead. He resigned himself to his castle where he raged over the loss of his only mate. He ate food and kept up his strength but was provoked at the slightest thing to strike and kill someone.

Half a year passed. . .

Nothing.

Not all the masses of hunting dogs could track her down it was like she just vanished off the face of the earth. Could something have happened to her body in her last world? Then again he doubted it because he didn't think he'd be able to sense her thoughts like he did. None of the servants even dared to so much as be in the same room with him unless he commanded them to, his temper was even more wicked than it ever had been. Somehow they managed to keep themselves alive in his service, most of them prayed that the Mistress would come home to him.

The only real companion he kept at all times was the Outlander beast dog that had followed him through battle. It was the only creature that didn't anger him with its very presence.

Despite not finding her he knew she was still alive, he could feel it. He could still sense her thoughts but they were different, as if she had changed. He didn't sleep in his bed anymore, instead choosing to sleep in the wing-backed chair in their room or on the floor. After he came back from the successful battle at Hartmann's gates he looked at the bed and nearly stabbed it with his broadsword in all his anger and frustration.

He didn't speak to a single soul. None of the servants, none of his allies, no one. In the very beginning when he mourned for his mate his people could feel the evil and fury just melting off of him. His eyes were always black, his movements heavy and thoughtful. Even the dog could feel his anger, but it was also the only thing not afraid of him. Somehow the dog reminded him of Arielle. Not that she was in any way comparable to a dog but the way it didn't fear him in anger but by it's caring attitude for its furious master. It never barked louder than The Kurgan spoke and stuck by him night and day.

He would stare out the window in the direction of the ruins of Hartmann's castle and pet the dog's head absent mindedly. For months he wouldn't leave the castle. Until the day came when a familiar face tempted him out of his solitude.

There was a timid knock on his door. He was sitting in the chair again looking out of the balcony doors.

He growled and then turned his dark gaze to the door, "Enter," he said.

The door creaked open and one of the man servants looked in, the beast dog raised its head curiously. He walked in an hurried over to him. "My lord, you have a message."

It got his attention, he stood up and towered over the other man. "And it would be?"

"The form of a letter my lord." He held out a small envelop and his master took it.

The kurgan ripped it open and read it. "Hello Kurgan," it read. "Six months have passed and I hear that you are still without a mate? I believe I can be of some assistance although I helped to put this situation on you. Why you ask am I helping you? The answer is simple; this is a game to me and I happen to be enjoying it. I know where she is, I've even seen her. She's alive and healthy I can assure you, but she is different. If you wish to see her again journey back to Hartmann's castle and follow the forest, keep going north, you'll find her eventually." The whole time he read the letter the fury that had somewhat subsided in him in the past six months resurfaced and his hands shook as he read who it was from. "Ian Derbith."

The letter was crumpled and dropped to the ground. His eyes turned black and the servant man ran from the room, fully knowing that his master about to break. When he made it to the bottom of the stairs though he was surprised to look back and see the Count at the top, looking quite in control of his emotions and dressed in his armor without his skull helmet.

"I ride out and don't know when I'll return." He said curtly as he passed the astounded servant man.

He stuttered before finding the right words to say, "Y-y-yes my lord." He bowed his head. "I'll prepare your horse."

The Kurgan nodded and watched the other man scurry off. He strode through the castle out to the courtyard. There he sat at the center fountain and went to work sharpening his sword. The sword that had accompanied him through many fights and battle, Immortal and otherwise. He looked out over his castle and knew that his indentured servants could be trusted to take care of his castle's affairs, he didn't need some steward to strut around his home and take command.

Half an hour later he heard the sound of his horse being lead to him and when he looked up he saw that the saddle bags were full. He didn't grin or smile as he got into the saddle. He merely looked at the man servant catering to him.

"You know what to do while I am away. If the castle needs defending go to the Outlanders with my seal and ask them for assistance. There is also a letter on the desk in my room to be used in such a case." He instructed the man carefully and knew he understood. He looked at the dog wagging its tail . "Stay!" He commanded. The beast sat on its haunches and whimpered a little because he knew his master wished him to stay.

The servant stepped back and with a loud whiny from his horse The Kurgan was gone. To where none of his people knew but they felt the tension leave with him. Whatever that letter said they knew it had been about Arielle and that their master was going to claim her again.

**Will he find her? Tune in tomorrow morning for details!**


	14. Chapter 14

**A bit of forshadowing (and pastshadowing) here ;)**

He left his castle and journeyed for days, going in the direction of Hartmann's last stand. When he reached the ruined castle it was an eerie sight to others but not to him. The bodies of the wife and children of his fallen enemy were not rotted corpses stuck on the spiked poles he had planted before the gates, the bodies were severely rotted and all that was left was decayed, grey flesh and bones.

He journeyed on. Past the ruins and dead bodies, past the outskirts of the village beyond, and up way to the north. He always followed the ridge line of trees, the dark forest that gave off a dark presence but didn't affect The Kurgan. The farther north he went the stronger he sensed Arielle and the sensation was putting him on a razor sharp edge, but he kept going. He wanted her and he was going to find her even if it put him through pain in every sense. The pain of_ not_ having her was far worse.

A week passed and still he went north. The feeling of his mate's presence growing stronger with each day that passed. On a dark and cloudy day he finally knew that he could stop. It was a very sharp stop too as he just instantly pulled back his horse and came to a stand-still. He swerved his head to the left of him and looked into the black canopied forest. His horse snorted as if to say it didn't fear the woods. It was a Kurgan Horse. He didn't even to reign his horse in that direction because it knew what needed to be done and turned on its own.

While he was hunting one night he left his horse in a glen and came across a river. On the opposite shore was a young woman bathing. At first he was tempted to rape her but when he looked closer he saw, from behind, that she has the same gold hair as Arielle. She turned, revealing the splendor of her full naked front and The Kurgan spotted a black and red solid tattoo of a fish on her left arm. He was speechless and took a step forward, breaking a branch and alerting her to his presence. When her eyes met his he knew that she didn't recognize him. She jumped out of the river, gathered her dress, and ran further into the woods.

The Kurgan crossed the river and took after her on foot. He found her trail and followed it through the thick forest of overgrown brush and trees. At one point he saw her up ahead putting on her clothes as she ran a soft brown skirt and black top with tight sleeves. She spotted him and then ducked under a low hanging branch, stepping over a rock and ran out the other side. The Kurgan followed her. A few minutes later she stopped to climb a tree and watched him lumber passed. When she heard him disappear she climbed down. . .

She ran off into the woods and was pleased with herself when she saw that the giant was nowhere in sight. She made her way back to her home and pushed the door open. Inside the youngest Hartmann son sat in front of the fire place sharpening his sword. She walked passed him and climbed into her loft area where she slept. After she lay down on the bed she looked over her shoulder and heard Bronson's sharpening stone grind against the metal stop. He stood up and went outside, the door shutting loudly behind him. He wasn't angry, he was just that way. She got on her knees and peeked out the window above her mattress and watched him walk into the small stables by the cottage.

When he was out of sight she kept her gaze on the stables while her hand went to a secret pocket in the folds of her skirt. There nestled in the brown fabric was a red moonstone pendant on a silver chain. She had no idea where she got it from but recalls someone pressing it into her hand when her father, Duke Hartmann, was killed and their castle burned down. She didn't remember the actual attack but her brother told her it was awful. Their whole family died that day. When she asked why she couldn't remember he said that she was poisoned that day and all memory apart from the past six months had been lost.

This was the only thing she had of that day and she treasured it closely. Bronson didn't even know about it and she didn't want him to know. Maybe it had come from a past love she had had, a man courting her perhaps since her brother told her she was unmarried. She felt a strong feeling of devotion in the pendant, she didn't know why she just did. She smiled and rubbed the soft, red and purple crystal, for all of her life she could remember she had felt trapped. She had never met another human being, Bronson said that the Hartmann family had been disgraced and that she, Elleira Hartmann was the very last remaining Hartmann woman. She could never be seen or she would be killed on the spot. It didn't make sense but she didn't question it.

She held the pendant up and let it hang from the chain, swaying it back and forth in the cloudy sun light of the world outside her window. She sighed and then clutched it to her chest and looked up out her window, she wished that one day she could get out and find whoever made the necklace in hopes that they would know who bought it and therefore, who gave it to her. One day, one day she would be old enough to be free, after all she was nearly twenty four. Or so Bronson told her. He couldn't control her forever.

She heard the door to the stable open again and without a second thought she slipped the pendant back into her pocket. She sat up with her legs over the edge of the mattress and heard Bronson climb the ladder to her loft. He was smiling but he held a goblet in his hand.

She frowned looked up at him sadly when he stood above her. "Please Bronson, I don't want to drink that anymore. It tastes so foul I can't bear it." It was the same thing he made her drink every day.

"It's your tonic and it'll help keep us hidden." He handed the goblet to her and she took it. "And since The Kurgan is still after you, you have to remain hidden."

She grumbled something about it and then put it to her lips and drank the water mixture. She sputtered and pretended to gag after she was finished, she handed the goblet back to Bronson and he patted her head, he then left. She watched him go and then waited for the sleep that came with it to come. He would go into the stables every day at the same time and come back with that tonic. It was made of water and something else, she guessed it was a root by the earthy taste it gave off. After drinking it she would fall into a deep sleep and not wake up until early the next morning, when the sky was still dark before sunrise. She closed her eyes and waited to wake up.


	15. Chapter 15

**A longer chapter but that's because I won't be able to use my laptop until tomorrow x) So please! Do enjoy this one. . .**

Weeks passed and life went back to normal for the girl. She hadn't seen that man in some time and was relieved to be rid of him. But her relief was short lived. Once again when she was down by the river, this time gathering water to drink, he took her by surprise.

The morning had been foggy and mist still lingered when she got down to the small river not far from her home. She kneeled down and put her bucket in the water. Cold air made the air still and not a creature moved. She suddenly heard movement somewhere behind her and when she spun around her eyes widened. There he was! The man from before!

Fear and excitement now gripped her and she dropped the bucket in the water, her skirt twirling behind her as she ran back into the forest to get her brother.

Looking over her shoulder she didn't see him when he walked out in front of her causing her to collide with him. He grabbed her shoulders and she looked up at him terrified.

"Arielle," he said.

She struggled to get free. "Let me go you beast!" She screamed.

He furrowed his brow in confusion, "Don't you know me? I am your lover, your mate! You are my woman!"

She shook her head from side to side, "I belong to no man!"

He growled and put her back against a tree, leaning into her and stopping her struggles. She looked back at him and he saw genuine fear, something Arielle never had towards him.

"What is your name?" he asked.

"Elleira," she said.

He scowled, "Arielle you need to remember! Whoever you think you are, you are wrong!" He shouted at her, shaking her hard.

She cried out in fear and closed her eyes, refusing to look at him. The Kurgan was at a loss. Arielle never acted this way and now that he had her in his arms he knew it was her. Her eyes, her hair, her scent, they were all the same, she just didn't remember who she was. This would explain why she pointed a sword at him back at the castle nearly a year ago and had that look in her eyes. . .

"Damn the Duke!" He bellowed, "His son did this to you. You are Arielle. Hear me?! You are not Elleira, you are The Kurgan's mate Arielle!"

"No I'm not!" She shouted back, "Let me go!"

He growled and put a hand up her skirt, snaking it all the way up to between her legs. There he felt that her body remembered who he was, while her mind didn't. She screamed as he touched her and put a finger inside of her. When he took his finger out he shoved it in her face and showed her what he could make her do.

"You are mine. See? Your body remembers, you need to now," he said, his sapphire gaze staring at her intensely.

She only struggled more, "That means nothing! You monster! Release me!"

With a growl of rage he moved her and flung her to the ground where he got on top of her and hovered over her. She looked back with tears in her eyes and fear on her face. He grabbed her in his arms and pressed his mouth to hers. She continued to stare at him with wide brown eyes and when he pulled away he saw that she was blushing furiously.

"Are you shy woman?" he asked her.

Tears fell from her eyes, "My brother has forbid me to see any man my whole life."

At that he laughed and looked up at the forest as if what she said was amusing, "You believe you are a virgin?" He looked back at her, "How much of your life do you remember?"

"My brother says I lost my memory when. . .," a sudden look of realization came across her face, "When a demon called The Kurgan killed our father." Her voice was hushed and fearful.

He growled and his smile vanished, "He was not your father! Your father is in an entirely different world! And the man you live with is not your brother! Your real brother is dead!"

She squirmed, "You mad beast! Stop playing with me and just end it now!"

As she cried he looked down at her softly, "I could never hurt you Arielle. Never beyond pleasures of the sexual nature."

At that her eyes flew open and her struggles grew stronger, "No!" she screamed.

The Kurgan ran his fingers up her smooth leg and drew her skirt up with it. He kissed her neck and undid the ties on her shirt until her breasts were exposed, he grabbed them gently and kissed them, the woman screamed. The Kurgan knew this was Arielle and he was going to make her remember who she was one way or another. He hadn't slept with a woman since her disappearance and craved her body, he knew that after a year of not sleeping with a man that she would be in perfect condition. One of his hands made its way back to her woman flesh and a finger slid inside of her. When he looked at her face he saw how badly she was trying to resist but the feelings he awoke in her were too strong, her face was even turning red with the effort to stay quiet.

While The Kurgan touched her and kissed her he didn't notice that she had grabbed the dagger at his belt. Once she had a firm grip on the handle she screamed and plunged it into his side. The giant on top of her bellowed in rage and his body instinctively jerked away from her. She quickly wiggled out from under him and took off running again through the forest. The Kurgan knew she would be go back to the where the Duke's son was and decided to follow her. He went back to his horse, which had wandered closer, and galloped after her.

Arielle, as Elleira, burst through the doors of her and her 'brother's' cottage.

"Bronson!" she screamed, he looked from where he was working to repair the hearth.

He got up when she screamed his name again, "What is it Elleira? I'm right here!"

She rushed up to him and in a panicked voice explained, "It's The Kurgan, The Kurgan has found us we must leave now!" She tried pulling him to their belongings but he stopped her.

"Now wait a moment. The Kurgan is here?" He asked as he grabbed her hand to stop her.

"Yes!" She stressed, "He is here and we have to go! Now!"

She yanked her hand away from him and went to her room in the loft. Bronson grabbed his sword and strapped it around his waist, he knew he couldn't run now. The Kurgan would be close behind the woman and now it was time to kill her. He closed his eyes as he remembered what his father had instructed him to do.

_"We took The Kurgan's woman to destroy him. We can't let him father children and by taking this woman we will draw him here and kill him. "_

_"What if it doesn't work father? And he defeats you?" Bronson had asked._

_At that his father smiled, "I have thought of that as well and have another plan. When he comes you will hide in the tower. No matter what happens to me or our home you stay hidden until The Kurgan's woman is unattended. When she is alone you steal her away and take her far to the north to the dark forest. Take her to the cottage and hide her there, convince her you are her brother or lover, either one will do."_

_Bronson had been courting a woman and had no desire for The Kurgan's._

_His father continued, "Hide her away and fill her head with lies. Make her believe it and keep giving her the root, it will make her forget. Never let her go to a village and never let her see another person again. She will be isolated for the rest of her life."_

_Bronson nodded, "What if The Kurgan happens to find us again? We must think of every possibility father."_

_The Duke nodded thoughtfully, "You are clever as well as brave son. If The Kurgan finds her again, kill her. No matter how close you may become with her you must kill her. Even if it costs you your own life The Kurgan must not get her back."_

Now the time had come. Bronson had intentionally played the part as the harsh older brother to not grow attached, and he hadn't. Yes he thought of her as his younger sister but no matter what he tried to think of her as, he always thought back to her in bed with the disgusting Count Von Krohn, it made him sick. That, and her unmarried status to her old lover, was enough to make him distant enough from her to be able to kill her. He had never felt any attraction towards her and had convinced her that she was his worthless younger sister. For some reason, though, she had worshiped him and loved him as her brother.

As Bronson planed her death downstairs, Arielle was busy gathering the few possessions she had gathered over the time she had lived there. Sudden she glanced out the window and froze when she saw The Kurgan approaching.

"Bronson!" she screamed.

"I hear him," a calm reply came from below. "Come down Elleira, this is no time to pack our things."

She obeyed but was confused when she noticed the calmness of his voice. The Kurgan's horse thundered closer and Arielle came to Bronson, grabbing his arm. "Where are we going to go Bronson?" she asked in a terrified tone.

"Nowhere," he said.

When she looked at him in confusion he turned with a placid face and roughly grabbed her arm.

"What are you doing Bronson?" she asked in a small voice.

He looked at her coldly, "You'll see."


	16. Chapter 16

When the sound of the horse was right outside Bronson pulled Arielle forward and kicked open the door. He pressed her against him, pulled out his sword and held it across her neck.

"Bronson! What in God's name are you doing? I'm your sister!" She screamed.

"Be silent you whore! You are not my sister!" He shouted at her.

The Kurgan's horse reared and cried as he pulled back on the reigns. Arielle looked up at the giant black knight on his horse with fear. Bronson looked at him with cold recognition. When The Kurgan dismounted he was ready to fight but the other man held Arielle in front of him with his sword at her throat. The Kurgan growled and stopped.

"Don't come any closer Kurgan," Bronson said. "Or I'll cut her throat."

"Release her whelp," Kurgan said, his eyes full of rage.

Bronson felt sweat begin to bead at his forehead. He pressed the blade harder against Arielle's neck and she cried out.

"Bronson please. . ." she whimpered.

"You will address me as Lord!" He shouted and shook her.

The Kurgan growled, "You're dead is what you are."

"What is going on!?" She screamed. "Please someone tell me!"

It was Bronson who told her, "You are The Kurgan's woman! His whore! My father took you, we tortured you and drugged you and had plans on getting you pregnant with my father's seed but The Kurgan killed him before he could," he said.

Arielle's eyes watered, "What?"

"He wanted me to make you think you were someone else and if The Kurgan ever found you I was to kill you," he explained. "And I shall with pleasure right in front of the monster you worship."

"I don't even know who he is!" She shouted in her defense.

"He speaks the truth Arielle," Kurgan said, "You are my woman but a whore you are not."

Bronson laughed, "You were never properly married and yet she slept with you for months! That is what makes a whore!"

The Kurgan growled and took a step forward but Bronson laughed again and pressed the blade harder against Arielle, drawing a thin line of blood. She tried to gulp down a breath of air but the movement only took the blade deeper into her neck. She whimpered and suddenly in her eyes, The Kurgan, whom she had hated for as long as she could remember, was her only hope at surviving. She looked at him with pleading eyes and he saw.

"Let her go," Kurgan warned. "If you kill her I will slowly tear you apart limb from limb."

Bronson was undaunted by the thought, "I have prepared myself for death for years! You don't scare me Kurgan." He smirked.

At a standstill Arielle saw a glimmer of chance and took it, she had carefully worked her leg between Bronson's and while he was concentrated on The Kurgan she brought her heel up and kicked his groin. He shouted and let go of her, dropping his sword and falling to the ground. Arielle dashed to the small barn behind their cottage and slammed the door behind her. At the same time, The Kurgan lunged forward but Bronson quickly recovered. He grabbed his sword with barely enough time to send it into the giant's chest. He kicked The Kurgan back with difficulty and with a groan of pain he ran towards the barn; he still had to complete his father's last will and kill the girl. Not thinking The Kurgan was still alive he kicked in the door and strode forward.

"Come out you little whore," he called. "I need to talk to you!"

Arielle jumped onto his back from out of a stable with a sickle in her hand and screamed in rage. She turned him over and intended to slit his throat like he did to her. Brother or not he had tried to kill her and she wouldn't let him have a second chance. He grabbed her hands, letting go of his sword, and swung her over so that he was on top of her. He slammed his fist on her wrist and she cried out at the pain, she dropped the sickle. Bronson grabbed it and put it to_ her_ throat.

"We never even looked alike!" he shouted. "How could you ever think that a whore like you could be of noble blood?" He asked, leaning in close and sneering at her.

"I-I never slept with him before Bronson you must believe me!" She cried.

He laughed at her, "The root I've been giving you wasn't to keep that devil away, it was to make you forget! You had been with The Kurgan for months before we took you. In that time God only knows how many times he fucked you!" He suddenly spit in her face.

She closed her eyes and turned her head as he put the tip of the sickle against her throat, but he never cut her skin. A massive hand grabbed his hair and flung him away from Arielle. The Kurgan stood above her and she whipped the spit off her face. He knelt down and picked her up gently, putting her behind him and wrapping an arm back around her. She gratefully held onto him as her legs threatened to give out. She coddled her hurting wrist and watched.

"Hartmann" The Kurgan's voice was a deep growl as he glared at the other man.

Bronson returned the death glare, "Kurgan," he said. It was no wonder that Derbith had told the Hartmanns what he really was.

The Kurgan smirked and then lunged forward. Bronson never had a chance as The Kurgan brought his heavy broad sword down over and over against the other man's sword. When he finally knocked it out of Bronson's hands the other man gasped and stared at The Kurgan who broke into a twisted smile. Arielle was left to stand on weak legs and watched as The Kurgan laughed and raised his sword. The last thing Bronson Hartmann saw was The Kurgan's grin before the giant Immortal swung his blade forward and chopped off his head. Bronson's body fell to the ground and The Kurgan turned back to Arielle. As soon as their eyes met the woman fainted, terrified at the prospect that she was alone in the world with no one but this giant savage to tell her the truth and give her a new home. The Kurgan lunged forward and reached out with one hand, catching her before she hit the ground.

**The Kurgan may have won the battle. . .But if his mate doesn't know who he is has Duke Hartmann won the war from beyond the grave?**


	17. Chapter 17

**The Kurgan is a patient man, he'll need that trait. Do enjoy. . .**

He picked her up and put her on his horse, riding away from the cottage and back out of the forest. That night when he stopped to make camp she woke up. Arielle moaned and sat up, rubbing the back of her head. When she saw The Kurgan she gasped and everything came back to her.

"You killed Bronson!" She shouted and pointed at him. She tried to turned and scramble away but was tripped up by a rope tied around her ankle. She followed the rope back and saw that it was tied around The Kurgan's waist, he grinned.

"Do you remember what he said?" The Kurgan asked, his mouth turned up in one corner to a smirk.

She remembered but she was still confused, "If he wasn't my brother. . .Then who am I?" she asked, her eyes wide in sadness and confusion. She threaded her hand through her hair but then gasped when it flared in pain, it was the one Bronson had smashed.

The Kurgan got up and walked towards her, she stood up and tried to look taller. He still towered high above her. He gently took her wrist in his hand and saw that it was a deep blue and purple from the bruising. He put it to his lips and kissed it, she shivered. With his hand encircling her slender wrist he pulled her close. He pressed his hand against her lower back and pressed her whole body against his while he kissed her pale lips. She felt a strange sensation begin to flow through her body and then jerked away.

"What are you doing to me!?" she shouted at him.

He continued to look at her and then sat on the ground and looked up at her with a serious face, "Come to me pretty, and I'll show you who you are." He beckoned her forward with one hand, "Come," he said. His voice was low and seductive; it pulled her right into his arms.

He laid her down by their fire and for some reason she couldn't explain it felt like she had been in his arms before that day. He took off her shirt and kissed her breasts, licking between them and then kissing her neck. She gasped when she felt something stiff brush her leg. The Kurgan leaned back and she saw a rather large bulge between his legs. She couldn't look when he undid his pants. Her apparent shyness only made The Kurgan more excited.

"You believe yourself a virgin woman?" he asked.

She nodded, "Bronson always told me I was."

"Well you're far from it. But I am the only man you have ever known," he told her. He liked to think that her past boyfriends were just boys and not men like him.

He took her uninjured hand and made her stroke his length, she did so with extreme shyness and if he hadn't slept with her before he would have believed that she really was a virgin, in mind and body.

She shivered when he moved his hand down between her thighs and hiked up her skirt. Just before he found her sweet spot she grabbed his wrists and he stopped. His hair had come out of it stay and fell like a black curtain around their faces. She looked into his striking blue eyes and a flicker of recognition flashed in her mind. She tentatively brushed her lips against his. He saw the fear in her eyes and wanted to see the playfulness she used to have, he kissed her again and she let go of his wrist. He moved his hand forward which resulted in her arching her back and letting out a small "oh".

The Kurgan gathered her in his arms and buried his face between her two full breasts, kissing her warm skin. She threaded her fingers through his long hair and welcomed him. He pulled his fingers away and pressed his hardness against her, she tensed beneath him. With a few more moments of trying to take away the tension. she relaxed but not by much. Suddenly he pushed his lower body forward and entered her. He found her body wanting him. He began rocking back and forth inside of her. She held onto him as if afraid she was going to fall. He heard her little whimpers and began moving faster, she wrapped her legs around his waist. He was soon grunting against her as he rutted harder and harder.

She cried out and moved her hands to his back, her nails dug through his shirt. He leaned back to look at her and saw that she was blushing furiously, he chuckled. He leaned upwards and pressed her shoulders down against the ground, he pressed himself harder against her. She felt it to and gasped before crying out again. When they were close to coming together he felt her body tighten up around him and then she screamed. He followed shortly after and released himself inside of her like he used to. It felt so right to him and he recalled only feeling this exhilarated when he felt a Quickening.

To Arielle in her drugged state, this was her first experience with a man and she felt so free. Bronson had kept her locked up in their cottage for a year and as far as she remembered she had never even met another human being. When he came inside of her something clicked in her mind and as he shouted in pleasure she looked at him. As he lay down on his back and then turned and pulled out of her they took heavy breaths. He lay on his back and had an arm wrapped around Arielle, keeping her close. He pulled his pants back on and she loosely tied her shirt closed before they both fell asleep.

Kurgan slept peacefully for the first time in a year while Arielle shook violently in hers. Her dreams were showing her flashbacks of a life she didn't remember. A man all bloody, cars (although she didn't know what they were), herself in a weird place and time. She saw herself and The Kurgan together many times and even saw herself being captured by Duke Hartmann. It was the last image, though, that broke through the spell. She saw herself crying in a strange bed when suddenly she heard The Kurgan's voice and leapt out of bed. They spoke back and forth until he got up and walked over to her. She looked up and him and looked scared, but the way he looked at her was gentle.

After that a dam seemed to break in her memories and situations flooded past. Suddenly she woke up with a jolt. She breathed quickly as she looked out at the forest around her. Her eyes wide and searching.

The Kurgan felt her move beside him and woke up, looking beside him he saw Arielle sitting up. He looked at her and she looked at him. She looked out at the forest with wide, terrified eyes, seeing something that no one else could in the deep woods. After a few minutes of The Kurgan calming her down he was able to get her back to sleep. They trekked on for the next two days mostly in silence since Arielle was incredibly shy. To her this was an extremely strange and scary situation. The only life she knew was a lie, her brother had tried to kill her, she had made love with a strange, giant of a man who claimed that she belonged to him. Her dreams showed her things that she couldn't believe.

What was real?

**It's been a while since there was a good bit of intimacy between the pair. What with being kidnapped, drugged, fought over, and suffering from a heavy case of amnesia and confusion, a couple sure would have a hard time getting close. But things are calm again. . .for now.  
(Wait. . .On second thought. Has their relationship and life together ever been calm?)**


	18. Chapter 18

**And so the journey to remember begins. Enjoy. . .**

When they were spotted coming up the road that led to his castle, the servants rushed forward to see if he really had found his mate. His lead man-servant was standing in the courtyard with beast dog and when it saw its master it whined and then took off to greet him. It barked happily and made The Kurgan's horse snorted in acknowledgement. The lord of the castle grinned and welcomed his pet, Arielle smiled a little in curiosity because she had never seen a dog before and the creature fascinated her. When she was on the ground it even rubbed its head against her leg, it liked her.

She cautiously pet its head and it licked her hand, she gently laughed. The Kurgan watched her with a watchful expression and then grinned and gave the reigns of his stallion over to the groom who came to him. As it was lead away he put a guiding hand on Arielle's back and took her back into what he claimed was her home.

"This is where I brought you in the beginning," he said as she gazed about the place in awe.

"Brought me? Where did you find me if I wasn't a Hartmann?" She asked innocently without looking at him.

He knew she wouldn't understand in the least if he told her the truth and his mind quickly came up with a story of his own. "I was traveling afar and found you wandering the lands, no one knew anything about your past and when I came upon you not even you knew. I saved you from men who wanted you dead and you became devoted to me. I in turn was taken with you and took you as my mate. You wanted me willingly."

She sighed, "Oh how nice," he noticed the characteristic sarcasm. "How can I remember who I am if I never even knew who I was?"

"You knew your name; Arielle." He grabbed her by the waist and turned her to face him, pulling her close up against his body. "If you have a name to go by it doesn't matter if you remember your past or not. You live for the future then."

She mentally admitted that she was impressed by his insight. She looked up at him and he could see in her eyes that she was trying to remember but the disappointment that followed showed him she couldn't. But it was obvious she decided to accept his words and shrugged. He suddenly wrapped an arm around her lower back and lifted her the few inches off the ground to bring her nose to nose with him. He stared into her reddish brown orbs and grinned as he realized that even if the story he told her had been true that he would have kept this woman alive if he found her out in his world. No amount of amnesia could block out little traits that he desired in her. He set her back down and continued to re-introduce her to their home

As soon as she heard about her young mistress's, Mel rushed up to her and gushed with happiness about her return but Arielle only told her that she had no idea who the woman was. For days she wandered around the castle trying to get back her memories. Mel took her under her wing and The Kurgan watched her like a hawk, she was never alone and always watched. No matter what she did though, there was nothing, but to The Kurgan it seemed that his lover remembered something day by day. Little things that she didn't think would matter did. Like how she would sleep in one corner of the bed, how she loved sitting on the banks of the river in the courtyard behind the castle and sleep, how she would watch the stars at night.

As he was in his when he fought he was patient with Arielle. She didn't let him make love to her again after that first night and he let it pass. He wanted his Arielle back, not this woman who didn't know who she was. He thought and remembered how Arielle was pure woman who knew what she wanted and how she wanted him, not a virginal girl who was too frightened to enjoy their pleasures together. He would sleep soundly next to her at night and hold her body against him, she allowed it.

One night, nearly three weeks later The Kurgan decided to see if making love to her in their bed would help her to remember. It was night and she had just finished eating her dinner with Mel, something The Kurgan thought would help her. The woman entered their room and found the giant sitting hunched over on the edge of their bed. He had his black hair tied back and nothing but a loose shirt with the sleeves cut off and loose trousers on. When he turned to look at her she traced the scar by his right eye with her timid gaze. His look was dark and serious, and yet she could see deeper and saw the desire he had, the determination he had to make her remember.

He stood and walked over to her, reaching behind her to shut the door. She backed up against it and looked up at him with confusion. He lashed out and wrapped one hand around the back of her head, the other around her back, and then changed his motions completely and gently pressed her against him. He pressed his mouth to hers and worked his tongue between her lips. She reached out with hers and touched him back. Suddenly he broke away, he turned and walked back to the bed, pointing to a spot on the ground.

"Stand there," he commanded her.

She obeyed but didn't know why. She wore a thin green and brown dress with white thread embroidered along the bottom and her waist. She stood there shyly in front of him and looked at the ground. Something made her peek up and him and she did so respectfully, he was staring at her like she was prey to his hunting. He jerked his chin at her and she looked down at her dress, when she looked back up at him he nodded. He was asking her to remove her dress, and she did. She undid the belt around her waist and pulled the shoulder down, followed by the other and then shrugged. The dress fell to the ground in a heap by her feet, she moved it out of the way. She tried to cover herself but The Kurgan wasn't about to let her to that.

He shook his head again, "Put your arms down woman." His voice was low and gravely.

She blushed and closed her eyes as she did what he told her to. He looked over her body and saw that she also kept the ritual of keeping herself clean shaven. . .everywhere. She looked up at him and then, on an impulse, walked forward to him. Once she was in arms reach he took her slender waist in his hands and pulled her closer. He had her straddle his lap and then peeled off his shirt while he kissed her. He turned her around and kissed her along her shoulders and upper back.

He removed his pants and then sat back on his heels with her still in his lap. She felt him wanting to enter her, she moved her body down onto him and heard him gasp as he slowly slid into her. He grunted while she moved up and down on his length and the two felt the insane heat of each other. With both of their moaning and grunting echoing through the room they forgot about the world and focused on nothing but their breathing. In the night they howled with each other.

He laid her down beside him on the bed and kissing between her breasts before laying down and falling asleep with her. In their sleep Arielle turned over onto her side and her back was pressed against his body, he rested his chin on her neck in the space between her shoulder and jaw line. He was finally able to rest heavy for the first time in months and he enjoyed every second of it with his mate. He wouldn't know until morning if she remembered but he didn't care. She was his again and he was willing to wait for her full memory to come back to her.

Once again Arielle was dreaming too hard. She saw more of her past that she didn't understand. She saw herself living with him in a time she didn't remember, she looked happy and at home. She yearned for that again, she yearned for that to return. Despite everything her mind was still confused even if after that night with The Kurgan she felt that it was right to be with him. Laying in his arms was something she knew.

Early in the morning, while the man still slept, she got up and carefully wriggled out of bed, grabbing a night gown from her wardrobe as she did so. She slipped it over her head and sat in the window seat that over looked the back courtyard. She saw the servants going about their early morning work and she smiled. Suddenly, gently, things began making sense. She let herself believe her dreams and the memories came floating back down an imaginary river. Still, there was a little worm in the back of her head that told her otherwise. She chose to ignore it if it meant that her confused world would be right again.

When The Kurgan came out of sleep he sensed she was still in the room and simply turned over to see her with her back to him, sitting in the window seat. He propped up on his elbow and looked at her. Sometimes he just liked looking at her, his ultimate Prize to the ultimate game. She was all he wanted all that he desired in a woman, his woman.

She suddenly turned her head to look at him and felt the same. He was her man, her soul mate in any given time and space. His eyes penetrated her and made her think. She smiled.

"I remember everything Kurgan," she said softly.

He grinned maliciously and beckoned her to him with one finger. "Come," he said.

She obeyed and stood up, hurrying over to him and jumping into the bed. She stood on her knees and laughed softly as he sat up reaching for her. She taunted him and it was then that h believed she fully remembered everything. That spark he had seen in her had returned. He didn't want to do anything else besides grab her in his arms and have her beneath him. He smashed his lips possessively against hers, demanding that she give him what he wanted.

She relaxed her body and he pulled out his dagger, using it to cut her dress open and she didn't hide when he opened the fabric and fully looked down at her body. Her chest heaved in slight nervousness but she grinned and pulled his face down to hers. He had the little clothes he was wearing off in an instant and his mate wanted him without fear. He hooked his arms under her legs and rested her feet on his broad shoulders. When entered her he found her wanting him eagerly. He grunted as he moved and she responded with her moaning. They created such hot friction that Arielle was shouting his name and what she wanted him to do to her.

In the end her release was loud and vigorous. Afterwards she lay next to her mate panting for breath, he was like-wise. She looked over at him and carefully rolled over onto her stomach, her eyes meeting his like she used to. "Next time I don't think I'll go to you so easily," she said with a teasing smile. "I'll make you work for it." She closed her eyes and sighed in contentment.

A growl rumbled in his chest, she remembered how he would do that, and he tightened his arms around her shoulders. He drew her close and looked into her dark brown eyes with his blue ones.

"We'll see." He said, and that was all.

She raised an eyebrow and looked at him but he kept looking back seriously. She frowned and he smiled, his shoulders shook as his laugh rumbled in the room. He pressed her lips to his, pressing his palm against the back of her head.

**A little worm of doubt can turn into a snake. A.k.a a big problem. Will it affect their future? Find out in all new upcoming episodes! *cough* I meant chapters ^_^ Thank you to everyone who reads and/or reviews! I write for you. Especially Cheese and AlmightyWarrior (Thanks you guys!)**


	19. Chapter 19

**To TheAlmightyWarrior! ^_^ Thanks for helping me name The Kurgan's beast dog. I feel like I've been away from you all for so long...But heres another chapter! Enjoy. . .**

Fall turned into winter smoothly and without problem. The leaves all fell from their trees, the animals grew their winter coats and Arielle had become herself again. As he usually did, he returned late from a hunting trip. The boar he had speared was being taken to the kitchens were it would be prepared for him and his mate. When he reached his room he found her gone. . .again. He scowled and growled in irritation.

"She's always gone somewhere. . ." he growled.

He stomped through his castle for fifteen more minutes before she came bounding out of the kitchens with a grin on her face. "It's Quibbles puppies!" She shouted excited and grabbed his hand, pulling him towards the kitchens.

He let her attempt to drag him along. As they went he remembered when she named his pet beast.

. . ._Both had ventured into the back lawn of the castle and he watched her as she went about, remembering things she knew before. The dog came running from around the castle chasing a chicken. When it saw its master and Arielle it changed direction and went to the woman. She laughed and pet its head and it licked her hands. It stood up on its hind paws and licked her face, she laughed. The Kurgan grinned at that sound, he had missed it._

_He crossed his arms and sat on a stone bench, the landscape was dark from the storm clouds overhead. Arielle rushed over to him and he couldn't recall ever seeing her so excited. Something about it seemed off somehow, it was like an itch he couldn't scratch. She was usual calm and collected, this time she was running all over the place and seemed overflowing with energy. He was glad she responded to her name and wanted him in bed again, but he couldn't shake that something still wasn't there yet. Something wasn't right._

_She sat next to him and the dog put its front paws in her lap. She giggled, "I thought of the perfect name for him," she said._

_He raised an eyebrow. "And that would be?"_

_She looked as if she was trying to contain some hilarious secret, that wasn't like the Arielle he knew. "Quibbles!"_

_When she said it his eyes darkened, "No." It was plain and simple._

_She laughed again, it was the same laugh but a different tone, "You know it's adorable." She squished the dog's face between her palms and his tongue lolled out, "Just look at him! He looks like a Quibbles!"_

_He growled in his throat and looked irritated, "No war beast of mine will be named that." He couldn't even say the name. Deep down he liked the irony of a war dog being named something like that but it would have preferred it was someone else's dog. For the sake of his mate's happiness though he let it pass. . ._

When they reached the kitchens he came back to reality and looked down where his mate was kneeling by the back door over a female dog that was in the process of giving birth. He peered down at the scene.

"We'll kill them as soon as they're all born," he stated.

Her reaction was nothing he ever expected from such a soft woman. She slowly rose to her feet and turned to face him, "Do what?"

He grinned, "You heard me woman. We have no use for them and I want my hunting dog able to work."

Suddenly she scowled and put a finger on his chest, glaring at him furiously. He hardly felt it though but was taken aback. She jumped on him so suddenly that he fell back, though a bit playfully to make her think she was strong. She straddled him across his waist and grabbed the collar of his shirt, pulled him close and glared at him in the eyes.

"If you touch them I will kill you. Don't you dare hurt those puppies!" She screamed.

He laughed, "As you wish mistress."

He grabbed the back of her neck and pushed her in close, pressing a kiss to his lips. "Now come up to the bedroom, I want you beneath me."

At that she was gone from him and again stooping beside the mother dog. "No," she said curtly.

His eyes narrowed, "What?"

"I said no master. I want to watch the puppies be born to make sure she takes care of them."

In The Kurgan's world puppies weren't so well taken care of. He stood behind her and watched her curiously.

"What's the attraction pretty?" He asked

She didn't look back at him, "I love small animals, especially puppies. It's such a beautiful thing to watch them be born and grow." Her voice was filled with such compassion and love for the whelps.

The Kurgan growled again and then grabbed her waist and threw her over his shoulder, "They'll still be there when I'm done with you."

"Put me down Kurgan! Put me down this moment!" She shouted, beating him with her fists again.

He only bellowed with laughter, "You wish me to rape you here?" He grabbed her buttocks with his free hand and she stiffened.

"Absolutely not!" She shouted indigently.

He chuckled and slapped her ass. "Of course you can see the bitch and her pups again. _If_ you can walk properly after I'm finished." His laugh could be heard throughout the whole castle as she screeched like a wild cat and cursed him.

Only a few minutes later a half naked Arielle ran down the stairs and whirled into the kitchens, catching the servants by surprise. They all averted their eyes as soon as The Kurgan lumbered after his woman, half dressed himself.

"Damn you wild cat!" He shouted, his face showed anger but his words were hinted with lust.

He stormed into the kitchens and looked at where the mother dog, there was Arielle leaning over them on her knees.

He looked at her, "Now get back into my bed before I have you right here!"

She didn't seem to hear him though, "They're all clean. Must mean she's done."

"So?" He asked rudely. "Go now!"

She still didn't pay attention to him, "Oh no. . ." she whispered. She picked something up and then stood up and turned around. In her hands was the runt of the litter, a small red dog that strongly resembled the mother.

"The runt," he said.

"She pushed it away with her nose," Arielle said. Her eyebrows creased and she seemed concerned. "Is the mother taking care of this one?" She asked a man who stood by the ovens.

He shook his head, "She don't want anything to do with the runt. She know it aint no good."

"Woman, I won't please myself with you here," he warned.

"But I have to help it Kurgan!" She said, suddenly looking up at him with big sad eyes. "It's going to die and she won't feed it."

"So? That's what happens to the runt of the litter," he said. His eyes shone hungrily as he looked at her half dressed form. Her hair had grown out during her time in Kurgan's world and she had it braided normally, but now her hair was sticking out in rumpled places and her cheeks were flushed.

She glared back at him, "I bet you were the runt of the litter Kurgan." She said, the corners of her mouth lifting enticingly. The look on his face made her pale and she backed away, "Let me give someone instructions on how to care for it first!" She shouted.

He nodded his head, "You have till ten. . .One."

She dashed out the door and found the woman who had alerted her that the dog was having babies in the first place. The elderly, plump, woman with light red hair and rosy cheeks, Mel. She put the puppy in the other woman's hands.

"Five! Six!" The Kurgan said as he slowly walked towards her.

"Please! Milk the mother or a goat or something and then fill a cloth with the milk. Feed it like a bottle to it and take care of it for tonight!" She said quickly, the other woman nodding.

Arielle's eyes widened and knowing that the runt was in good hands she took off up the stairs, her lover lumbering behind her. He stopped counting and growled loudly as he took off after his prey. Her mock-shrieks could be heard in the hall before he laughed and pulled her into their room.

Later that night as Arielle lay wrapped in The Kurgan's arms, he sighed with pleasure and then looked down at her, "What makes you want to care for something as pathetic as that runt?" He asked.

She snuggled against his side, "It's just so small, I don't want it to die. If I have to force the mother to feed it I will," she said.

He grinned at her determination and then stretched and closed his eyes. As he began to drift off to sleep he began to wonder if there was more to her wanting to save the runt. Maybe it was because she knew that with him she would never have children.


	20. Chapter 20

**It feels more like weeks than days since I updated last Y_Y I've been working on more adventures for The Kurgan and his mate. I've also begun work on a whole new Kurgan story that does not involve his mate but instead has Ramirez! Beware though, while he has shown a secret side in this story in the new one he's the cold hearted monster we all know and love :D When to upload it is the question though.  
Enjoy. . .**

That morning the master of the castle was awakened by his woman kissing him on his neck. He groaned deeply and tilted his head back as he took his time to fully wake up. Arielle stopped for a moment while he stretched and saw that he was exposing his neck to her, a sign of full trust. With his eyes closed he didn't see the flicker of indecision in her eyes. She realized that he was a fool for trusting her so openly when she didn't even truly trust herself. There was still some small worm wriggling around in her head causing a commotion in her thoughts.

She shook it off and went back to kissing him, trailing kisses down his neck. She licked him from the collar bone to jaw line, he chuckled darkly. When she was done he looked at her with his piercing blue eyes.

"You are a vixen," he said as a-matter-of-factly. "I curse the day I brought you here with me."

"That was also the day I died," she said smoothly. She touched the tip of his nose and grinned, "Speaking of dying. . ."

Without warning she jumped off the bed and ran from the room. Without caring about what she was off to do the Kurgan closed his eyes and concentrated on getting out of bed. When she reached the kitchens she saw Mel kneading their bread.

"How is it?" Arielle asked brightly. She propped her elbows on the table and smiled at the woman.

The servants of The Kurgan had long ago accepted how different she was and greatly loved her for her kindness.

"Just fine dearie," the woman responded. "I was able to get the mother to feed her again but after a few moments she shoved the wee one away. So I got some milk from the goat and did as you asked. The pup is in the basket over there." She pointed to said basket.

"She?" Arielle asked, her face bright, "A girl pup? Well we'll have to name her then."

She bounded over to the basket and saw the puppy suckling on a cloth sac. She cooed and gently stroked the small thing on the head. The older woman chuckled and grinned. When she turned back to the ovens she froze in terror as she saw her master leaning in the doorway. The way he stared at the young woman was very disturbing. It was as if she was his prey and he the hunter, he only brought her to hunt her and do what he pleased. Of course she brought some light to the castle and made the servants happy, and ever since she arrived The Kurgan hadn't raped any more women from the village.

He stalked forward as the woman servant lowered her eyes and walked up to the woman he had his sights on. He saw her staring fondly at the runt in the basket and came up behind her. She felt his body against her back and felt when he lifted a lock of her hair and took in her scent.

"I think I saved it," she said in a hushed tone.

When he looked at the puppy he saw its little belly was full and it cooed to itself happily. "Yes, you have. Now come up and dress so we can eat."

She kept looking at the puppy, "Hmpf. . .Fine. But after a few more moments."

He groaned behind her, "How long will it take for the whelp to take care of itself?"

"Eight weeks," she replied bluntly.

His face darkened, "Eight weeks?" There was absolutely no way in hell he'd let that little runt take away eight weeks of her attention. "And that will be eight weeks where 'nanny' takes care of it! I will not have you distracted by that."

She smirked and turned her head to the side, showing her smile, "If you say so, master."

He knew she didn't mean it. Without a word he wrapped an arm around her waist and pressed her close to him. He put his nose to her neck and took in her scent, his hands slowly roaming up and down her body. He felt her shiver and smiled. He let go and placed his hands on her hips, spinning her round to face him.

"Lets us go then, and dress," she said.

He peered down into her eyes, "You're being too compliant. And you're beginning to speak like my time."

She only smiled and narrowed her eyes seductively, "Well I've been here for nearly years now, I learn quickly."

He let her go and she sauntered away. With one last glance at the puppy he followed her.

The next day Kurgan decided to start teaching Arielle things about his world that she didn't know. He taught her how to ride a horse and use a sword. She excelled in both but would often remark how her fighting style was nowhere near as graceful as The Kurgan's.

"My lord," she said as she wiped sweat off her brow. He looked at her, " Your strength never stops amazing me." She smiled at him.

When he looked at her he instantly wanted her out of her clothes. She was drenched in so much sweat that her men's shirt and trousers clung to her body, especially her chest. He watched hungrily as her chest went up and down with each deep breath. He grinned.

"I can only hope for that," he sheathed his sword and began stalking towards her. "Now come to me."

She had put her own sword away when she looked up and saw him creeping towards her. She looked at him. "What for?"

He growled and flung her over his shoulder.

"Put me down!" she shouted. "I hate it when you do this!"

She beat on his shoulders a few more times before he suddenly dumped her own the banks of the river. She looked towards the water and then back at her lover and smiled. He bent down for her but she quickly scooted back and waved a finger in front of him.

"Ah ah ah dear Kurgan," she taunted him. "Not yet."

She grinned impishly at him and he stood back, watching her with interest. She easily peeled off the shirt and let him admire her body. His eyes went big in desire and took a step forward but she stepped back, throwing her shirt at him in the process. He smirked and then watched her, with a free second she quickly dropped her pants and slipped out of her shoes, which she also threw at him. He laughed and she walked forward. He let her undress him and then backed her into the water. They came together under the water and in the shade of the trees she screamed in pleasure with him inside of her.

Afterwards, with her legs still slightly shaking from his ravishing of her that day , they sat together in the soft muddy banks under a tree. She sat against his body and felt him breathing.

Without looking at him she asked, "What would happen if Bronson had killed me?" she asked.

He looked down at her and held her closer. "You would have gone back to your world and stayed there. I wouldn't be able to bring back."

She looked up at him, "And I am Immortal?"

"You are free from every sickness or poison. But if that damned Hartmann had cut you open you would have gone." He looked at her seriously. "Nothing will ever happen to you my mate. Nothing."

She nodded and kissed his hand, she then got up and waded back into the water up to her hips. She washed her body off and then walked out of the river with The Kurgan behind her. While she basked in the sun with her lover watching her, he dressed and looked out at the surrounding forest. The forest held many secrets, and hid many things, it could even hide another Immortal for all he knew.

She looked up at him and rolled over onto her stomach, "We haven't heard from anyone in quiet sometime."

"How do you mean?" He asked.

She shrugged, "Just that no one has come to our gates of late." After she said it she grinned. "I bet it's because they're afraid," she said. "After you completely destroyed the Hartmann family people leave us alone. Not that I mind, I rather enjoy having you to myself every moment of the day."

He nodded, "You belong to me and me alone."

She grinned, "Does that mean you'd marry me?"

At that he smirked and turned away, walking back to the castle. She rolled her eyes and then stood and quickly dressed. She ran after him. Along the way she felt a presence somewhere behind her and then turned slightly and looked over her shoulder. No one was there anywhere in the distance. She shrugged it off as paranoia from just being kidnapped and held captive for a year. She could only hope that's all it was.

**Doubt, marriage, and paranoia. . .Is her paranoid state justified? O_O Will they ever wed or live just as happily as if they were? And what about that doubt she keeps feeling?**


	21. Chapter 21

**I have no surpassed "Together" part one in chapters! Huzza! Anyway, I'm sorry I havn't posted in a while. My attention was else where despite that I was working on more material. Here is chapter 21, enjoy. . .**

Days went by and life readjusted to normal. When The Kurgan was gone Arielle would practice sword play or riding and take care of her puppy. She was great at riding and took to it quickly. The sword was something she wanted to copy The Kurgan in but never felt she could capture his gracefulness that she would see in his skills. When he was home she was always by his side everywhere he went.

He had her in his sights at all times. If she wasn't in his bed she was by his side. He hated leaving her alone and whenever he came back he would grab her and kiss her like it was their last. A few months passed and soon winter came. The freezing cold kept the two in their bed more often than usual but they didn't mind. It was in the beginning of winter that Arielle ventured out to the forest to watch The Kurgan hunt. They both wore black fur trimmed cloaks and rode tall horses as they went through the thick surrounding woods.

Besides being a master swordsman The Kurgan was also skilled at archery and trap setting. She watched over his shoulder as he showed her what he was doing along the way.

"Why don't you have other people hunt for you?" she asked already knowing the answer.

"Then what is there to life?" he asked with a smirk. "I have always and will always hunt for what I want. I had to hunt for you and I hunt for our food."

Suddenly his voice trailed off and he notched an arrow. From on top his horse he let it go and it flew until it hit its target. Arielle heard the hard thump of the arrow hitting an animal. He smiled and thundered off after his kill with Arielle behind. The Kurgan was just done loading the deer onto his horse when he suddenly went stiff, he spun around, with sword drawn, and Arielle stepped closer to him. She grabbed his arm and hid behind him, following his gaze.

"What's out there?" she asked quietly.

He focused on the forest, scowling at the trees. He didn't say a single word. Every time another Immortal approached he would feel sick and know why, this time he couldn't tell why he felt sick. Without a word he hoisted Arielle up onto her horse and then got atop his own and led her away from the forest. As they rode Arielle kept looking back over her shoulder and recalled a time, not long after she came back to The Kurgan's castle, where she felt watched. Was there another Immortal out there that made her lover uneasy?

Once at the castle Kurgan helped her to dismount. "Go to our room and wait there for me." He told her.

She obeyed without a second thought, trusting in his commands. While she waited in their room she stepped out on the terrace, looking out over the rolling forests of Saxony. While she gazed over the lands she failed to notice a shadow creeping up to the left of her. When it stood in the setting sunlight and she still didn't notice, entranced as she was by watching The Kurgan unsaddle the horses, it reached out. . .to touch her shoulder.

She jumped a foot in the air and the hairs on the back of her neck rose quickly. She spun around and a scream began to leave her mouth but the shadowy figure clamped his hand over her mouth quickly. She began smacking and hitting at her assailant and trying to push him away.

He grabbed her shoulders firmly and then leaned in close. She saw who it was and stopped struggling, a wide smile.

"Macleod," she whispered happily.

She hugged her old friend and he hugged her back, "And how have you been my friend?"

There was a thud outside the door and Arielle quickly glanced at it and then looked back at him. "Well I died and then came here. And after that I was kidnapped and held prisoner for a year, then suffered amnesia and am now suffering from paranoia. But other than that I've been happy."

He looked surprised, "Wow, you sure are living the life of the Kurgan's Woman."

She blushed, "So you heard?"

"That's why I came looking for you. I heard you lived here now but when I came to see how you were you were gone. I've been watching ever since."

She grinned," So it was you the other day."

He looked at her curiously, "I what?"

"It was you who watched us in the courtyard out back and just now in the forest wasn't it?" She had a playful expression on her face.

He shook his head, "No Arielle. It wasn't me. I've been in the village for the past few days."

Her smiled went away, "What?"

"There is someone else here."

The sound of footsteps could clearly be heard coming up from the stairs. They both looked at the door and Arielle put a finger to her lips. She turned to Connor.

"I wish you didn't have to leave but he'll try to kill you," she shrugged apologetically.

"Arielle there is someone else here watching you. I've felt him and seen him. His name is Belfiero." The name was hard to understand through his strange accent but she comprehended it. "I have to go but remember that name nd be careful." He kissed her on the forehead and then scrambled back down the vines that climbed the sides of the castle.

She leaned over the railing and looked down at his darkened figure. The door swung open behind her and she quickly spun around to find her mate walk into the room. He looked around and then saw her standing by the railing. She looked at him expectantly, he looked back suspiciously.

"Who was here?" He asked as he began to stalk over to her.

She looked at him plainly, "There was no one."

He reached her and looked over the railing just in time to see the visitor running to the tree line. He slowly looked back at her, "Oh?"

She sighed and looked at where the figure had gone. "It was an old friend."

"MacLeod," he growled.

A fearful wave suddenly rolled over her and she backed up, whenever Bronson had been angry at her he would hit her or shake her fiercely. She backed away from him and shook her head, "I-I didn't sleep with him. I would never betray you like that, I swear!"

When he looked at her he was confused by the emotion that flitted across her face, fear. He peered closer to her, "What are you afraid of?"

"You don't think I. . .slept with him?" She asked timidly.

He walked over to her cowering figure and grabbed her arms. She shook as he pulled her in close and then wrapped his arms around her waist. "I know you didn't. Deep inside, you know you could never sleep with any other man besides me. We are eternal mates." He looked down at the top of her head.

She looked up at him and in her eyes he saw her uncertainty. He hummed irritably and then held her close and led her back inside. He could still feel her shaking and to ease her fear he led her to the bed where he showed her nothing but the overwhelming emotions he had for her. The love that burned uncontrollably in his head and heart, as hot as fire. He kissed her tenderly where she yearned and gave her what she needed.

That night he was able to ease her fear but as he sat on the bed afterwards he wondered if she was truly all the way back to him despite her memories. She still carried this fear that he would hurt her, the real Arielle would never have that feared him at all. The Kurgan's fury at the dead Hartmann name burned again and he cursed them for tainting his mate. Not only that but Macleod was there.

The Kurgan knew he wouldn't stay long now that he had spoken to Arielle. About what they discussed he would ask of her in the morning. He looked back and saw the woman sleeping, her chest rising and lowering delicately with each breath. He laid back down and curled around her sleeping form possessively. If one more person, Immortal or human, so much as touched her it would be the last mistake they ever made.


	22. Chapter 22

After MacLeod paid his friend a visit, The Kurgan asked her about what they shared. She claimed he was had only come to see if she was well and then left, it was a story he easily believed. She intentionally left out the part about Belfiero because she didn't want to worry him. A week passed without incident and soon she forgot all about the mysterious Belfiero, believing that MacLeod had overacted.

A week later they left their castle and went to the village down the road. It was busy day in the village "Count Von Krohn" ruled. Despite being a brutal Immortal he had his village run with a just hand, of course it was only because he put other people in charge. If he had run it directly himself it would be full of slaves to his every wish. He decided to pay the rare visit to the people to look for MacLeod, although he knew the Scottish Immortal would be long gone. He passed up the tavern where Arielle had first gotten drunk after her arrival and instead took her to another place and there they were treated as royalty.

The people were more than gracious as they turned the day into a celebration of the Countess's return. While his mate was distracted by the over enthusiastic hosts, The Kurgan demanded to speak to the keeper of the place. It was a fit, middle aged, and happy man. When he approached the count he bowed his head respectfully and was most formal with his ruler. The Kurgan liked a man who knew his place.

"A man came to my castle last night, a Scot by the name of MacLeod. Have any newcomers arrived?" He asked, his deep voice rumbled in his chest.

The man nodded, he was all business, "Yes my lord. Three men actually. The most recent was the Scot as you said, and he gave his true name, he left during the night." He seemed to falter when the thought of the other two crossed his mind.

"The others?" His count demanded to be told who they were with two short words.

Behind them was an order he dare not go against, "Two other men came while you were away some time ago. The first was an old man, long white beard, clothes the likes of which I've never seen. He spoke with a strange accent and gave me the name of Franz. He had a companion with him, another man. A dumb mute, by the looks of it, he said naught a word but did as his master told him without question. He had no name."

The Kurgan looked over at his woman and saw how her eyes shone with happiness. But it also hid another feeling deep inside that he could see. One of confusion, she was still lost within her head. He left the young man and went back to sit by her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and holding her close. An old man with a younger dumb mute for a companion, there was only one such person he knew who traveled like that. It was yet another Immortal, an Italian named Belfiero. It was an enemy The Kurgan knew all too well, obviously since he could deduce who this Franz really was with nothing more than the description of his companion to go by.

Belfiero was his oldest enemy to date besides the Highlander and Ramirez. A damn Italian, born and raised in Sicily. His first death was a spear to the chest as a fishing accident covered up by his brother. After that Belfiero learned what he was, got a mentor, and then killed him just as The Kurgan had. They were nothing alike though; while The Kurgan relied on his brute strength and surprise attacks, the Italian was more taken to kidnapping his Immortal opponents and torturing them before beheading them. He was secretly filthy rich and didn't try to hide it, was addicted to opium, and always had a human man slave whom he'd use to rape and impregnate women from time to time. He was one of the fastest Immortals and wicked clever. He was also one of the few people that The Kurgan hadn't been able to kill in their first fight.

If he had been here there were only two reasons why. The first of which was obvious; he wanted The Kurgan's head and felt that he was ready to take it. The second was that he had come for the only weak point in his life, Arielle. He had heard of other Immortals who foolishly took human women as wives, Belfiero would kidnap them, rape them and then kill them. The Kurgan didn't believing in putting the women he had raped out of their misery and had let them live with the shame he filled them with. Of course ever since he had come by his mate he hadn't felt the need to touch any other woman.

He remained silent while Arielle laughed at his side, his dark thoughts brooding over the fact that yet another man had his sights on his mate. If word reached The Kurgan that Belfiero came again he would go after him with a vengeance and message to all other Immortals; his mate was his alone and no would take her from him again. He would make sure every Immortal knew of Belfiero's horrific death after he gave it to him. In his since of uneasiness he decided to leave Arielle in a crowd of people where he knew she was safest and decided to go ask other people around the village of they remembered about this "Franz".

While he was gone Arielle happily stayed where she was and laughed with her people. She felt more at home among these people than she ever remembered feeling anywhere else. As she ate what was given to her and watched the people celebrate her she began to doubt that all of her past memories were real. What if they were lies? She didn't believe she was a Hartmann anymore but what if The Kurgan had found her elsewhere, as he said, before the Hartmanns?

At that time he could have easily filled her head with images of some insane time and place and after the Hartmanns too her they were dormant memories, only to be brought back by the man who claimed that she was his. For all she knew she could be anyone and the possibilities about her self identity were physically hurting her head. After a while the inn became stuffy, the air hot, she needed to go outside for moment and politely excused herself.

Once out she ventured to the backside of the inn, a place that led directly off into a small wooded area and beyond that she could see a glen with tall grass and bright green trees. She walked to the glen and enjoyed the scenery. Not long afterwards though she felt a pair of eyes on her back, the same feeling she had when her mate was teaching her how to fight and when they were out hunting when MacLeod visited her. She looked all around but could see no one, and felt in no immediate danger. On her own will she walked back to the inn following another path out. She came upon the same stables where she had the memory of getting sick in when she got drunk a long time before.

She heard the soft whiny of horses inside and entered with a smile. The place was strangely vacant as she walked in through the back, not even a stable boy was around. She thought nothing of it as she went to someone's deep chestnut colored horse, horse being an understatement because this goliath of a creature was the biggest horse she had ever seen. It's head was well above her own and was even taller that The Kurgan's horse! Such a magnificent creature, and when she went to it, it lowered its head to look her in the eye. She smiled and spoke to it softly while she gently stroked its velvety nose.

She heard the shuffling of feet too late, reacted too slowly to turn around and face her attacker. When he grabbed her he threw them both into a clear stall into the soft hay within. He straddled her and fought to pin down her wrists over her head. When she tried to screamed he grabbed both her wrists in one hand, effortlessly pinning them down. He then covered her mouth with a surprisingly clean hand and press down hard to silence her, it worked.

The man wore a dark brown, worn cloak that covered most of his body and face, all she could see was long graying hair. The man shook her hard and then spoke, "Stop shouting you blasted woman and let me speak!" It was a thick accent of a country she couldn't place but knew.

She stopped for a moment and when she felt the man relax she yanked out of his grasp and tore away from him, tripping on her cloak and falling down in the process near the entrance of the stall. He grabbed her ankle and pulled her back to him. She lay on her back breathing in short, quick breaths.

"Who are you?" she asked.

The man held both of her wrists in each of his hands now, he leaned in close to whisper in her ear. "You tell your filthy lover that Belfiero has come," he said.

"MacLeod told me you would come. Are you going to kill me?" She asked.

He laughed, "Not yet. I'll let your weakling of a master have his final way with you before I kill him."

Arielle scowled and glared back at him, "Shut your mouth you pig!" She stood up and balled her fists . "You attack me and then insult my mate? How dare you challenge a Count of Saxony!?"

Like a snake she kicked him in the gut, catching the man off guard. She shot up and jumped on him, forcing him to the ground. She began beating her fists against his chest and for a few minutes she stunned him but when he regained his senses she would be sorry. With a growl of rage the man flung her away from him and then got into a crouch and pounced on her, sending her on her back with him on top of her. He pinned down her wrists again and she looked into the face of her attacker. He was older and she knew for certain that he was an Immortal, he looked too foreign and wise to not be one. His foreign qualities included dark hazel eyes, long graying hair, darker skin. It clicked as to where he came from, she knew it had to be Italy.

While he was on top of her he raised a flat palm and sent it into her cheek, flinging her head to the side and severely dazing her. She cried out and her head rolled in daze. Belfiero's breathing was just a little above normal and his death glare made her cringe. At least when The Kurgan glared at her she would see a hint of sexual tension but in this man she saw something far different. He showed her fury and made her afraid of him. Yes she feared The Kurgan but in an entirely different way from this man, she knew her life was on the line with him. When she looked back at him she took a calming breath and glared at him.

"I have a little message for your Kurgan. While he may already know, tell him Belfeiro is back and he knows all about his little woman. He's lucky that I don't kill you now. Think of it as a warning." Suddenly he leaned in close. "If he wasn't walking in here in a few moments I'd give you something he never could." His hand trailed up her leg and she glared at him while trying to keep her breathing from quickening and giving away her fear. "Actually, come to think of it. I have a friend who would be more than happy to give you what The Kurgan obviously can't." He smiled darkly at her.

She could hear her lover walking closer and looked towards the door, "I doubt it," she hissed. A strong exotic smell crept into her nose and she shook her head trying to get rid of it.

He sat back, "Children," he whispered. He chuckled and then whisked away from her and was gone.

Just as he left through where she had entered she felt an overwhelming sense of dizziness wash over her and let her head fall back in the hay. The scent of her attacker lingered in the air as The Kurgan barged in. He walked down the rows of stalls, not intending to find his mate. He had heard of a Draft Horse being kept in there and he wanted to see the creature. When the mixed smell of opium and insence met his nose he drew his ever-ready sword and spu around. No one was there, where he did find was a stall door open and he went to look inside. There was his mate laying unconcious in the hay. His eyes widened and turned black in ager as he growled and went to her, picking her up in his arms and gently shaking her awake.

"Arielle," he rumbled. "Come to me pretty."

She fraintly grumbled a response, a single name. "Belfeiro." She slumped aginst his firm body and he carried her back inside.

He carried her to the inn and was quietly led to an upstairs room where the wife of the inn-keeper attended to her and made sure she was alright. The name was all he needed to ignite a malstrom of fury and rage within his head. The next time he saw Belfiero the man would pay dearly for getting this close to his lover. Why the italian had let her live was a mystery to him, it could only mean that she carried a message. One he would heard when she woke up

**This was an awkward meeting between Arielle and Belfiero, along with his back story, brough to you by Sataria Zardania. Tune in next time to see what happens. The horse I described was a Shire Draft Horse, and I want one so badly. Look them up they're impressive creatures :)**


	23. Chapter 23

**I am sssoooo sorry! I've had the nasty flu and have been mostly sleeping. But I'm better and back now and with a new chapter! Please do Enjoy!**

Arielle was having a nightmare.

_Some shadowy man with red eyes was reaching out for her from a mud filled hole. She was stuck between the mud and a stone wall. It seemed to push her closer and she knew that the man wasn't good. He grabbed her ankle and she screamed while he pulled her towards him, his slimy hands leaving mud up all her leg. Her foot had just entered the mud when she screamed out for The Kurgan, she looked for him but he was nowhere. The creature dragged her further still until she was up to her waist in mud and muck. She closed her eyes and waited for death. . .that is until a giant, armor clad hand grabbed her arm and tore her from the mud._

In the real world she suddenly jerked out of sleep and looked as if she had been falling. She jolted up and gasped for breath. The Kurgan flew to his feet out of the wooden chair he had been using and spun around to look at her, he quickly walked to the bed and sat on the edge to look at her.

"What the fuck?' She shouted.

He raised an eyebrow, "What's wrong?" He reached out for her and gently grabbed both of her arms in each of his hands, holding her still while she frantically looked around the bed.

She looked at him with wide eyes, "He was trying to drag me into the mud. You grabbed me at the last second." She breathed quickly before leaning forward and pressing her cheek against his chest and took in his forest smell. She closed her eyes and knew that in The Kurgan's arms she was safe.

"Don't worry pretty," he told her. "When I see him again he will die."

"And you'll earn another quickening?" she asked.

He nodded and then began taking off his armor. Each peice was quietly laid down in a pilewhile he told her the ways he would think about her very shapely body. She blushed. When the last piece dropped to the floor he crawled onto the bed and enveloped Arielle in his scent, arms and body. She had already gotten herself undressed and was waiting for him under the blankets. When he was on top of her he began kissing her and snaked his hand down the length of her torso and down her waist. He cupped her sex and then slowly sent a finger into her, making her arch her back and spread her legs for him. Arielle gave herself completely to her lover. Letting him do whatever he wanted and not teasing him or playing; she wanted his body and love.

He smiled in his dark way as she moaned and called out his name, kissed her neck and felt how hot she was for him. The moment between them was pure, raw, emotion and instinct. He entered her body with his own and began thrusting back and forth gently at first. She held onto him as if afraid she would fall off the face of the earth and he loomed above her, she gently held his bulging arms and tried not to raise her voice. She felt his muscles move beneath his skin as he moved against her. She could feel the power behind him and she remembered why she fell in love with him but that Arielle felt like a different person and it pained her.

Although he couldn't read her mind anymore, as they both reached their release he could feel the indecisive emotions flooding through her brain and it angered him that there was something wrong with her still. When she slept again beside him that night he remained awake as he often did these days. As he lay there thinking he could hear footsteps coming towards their room. From the sound alone he could tell that it was a man, tall, well built, and wearing boots. The person stopped in front of their door. . .and then continued on. He frowned; they wanted him to follow. Angrily he got up and pulled on his pants, boots, one sleeved black vest and strapped his sword around waist.

He didn't feel any fear or excitement as she walked down the hall following the mysterious person. As he turned a corner he tied his hair back with the worn leather strip he always used and put his hand on his sword hilt in a light gesture. He saw a back flight of stairs that led into a back garden, a man was walking to the far side. The Kurgan saw through a window and glared at him.

When he reached the garden he strode forward and saw that he was unarmed. He stopped a few steps away, "Derbith."

That very man turned around with a smile on his lips. "Hello Immortal. I see you got her back."

"How long have yo-" The words hit The Kurgan in the face. He raised an eyebrow, "How do you know me?"

The smug man tossed back his hair in an arrogant way, ""I know all about Immortals, just as I know all about you, Kurgan."

"A Watcher?" his opponent growled.

The Scot shook his head. "No. There may have been some in my family but alas I am not one. But I know the Rules of your Game. The Prize. I know about Belfeiro as well."

The other asked, "What do you know of Belfeiro?"

"Nothing of interest that great," he droned on in a boring tone. "Just that he is going to soon make you an irresistible offer. One such that you cannot refuse." He looked at The Kurgan while nonchalantly picking his nails.

"And what happens if I do?" The Kurgan growled.

Derbith looked apologetic. "You know Belfeiro best don't you? What do you think he would do? You know what's he's after."

The giant of a man eyed the Scot with dark, piercing eyes. "Why do you speak of this?"

He only grinned and began walking further into the garden towards the forest. "To show you what I can do."

The Kurgan let him go and stared hard at where he disappeared. All he knew was that this man was arrogant, clever and was never going to leave him alone.

"Much like a fly", he growled.

When he was gone the Count turned and made his way at his own pace to his room. He put his sword by his belt and got on the bed, getting on his hands and knees to look closer at Arielle's features while she slept. When he looked into her face and saw how beautiful she was and knew what an alluring and incredible woman she could be, he knew he would do whatever it took to ensure that she got back to him on all levels of mind and body. Whatever this offer was it would most likely mean leaving Arielle so Belfeiro could obviously swoop in and mold her mind to him.

Even if that plan somehow would help her fully return to him then he would put them both through it. This was going to be another disgusting game of wait. But he was patient man, he could wait.


	24. Chapter 24

**Don't ask where I've been. . .I don't even know O_o Enjoy. . .**

The next day they went back to their home. Arielle went to the library and stayed there. The Kurgan went to an alcove off in some corner of the castle and sat down in an elegant, wing-backed chair, much like the one in their room. He propped his boots up on a table and rested his chin on his fist. It was well into the night when one of his man servants entered the room.

It was one of the upper servants who had been there most of his life and was used to all the colors his master's personality had to offer and so he wasn't timid when he walked in. "My lord, you have a visitor. I believe you were expecting him and so I showed him to the sitting room."

The Kurgan stood abruptly and grabbed his sword from where it rested against the chair. He growled as a response and the man bowed as his master walked passed. Afterwards he went off to attend to his other duties. As the giant stalked by the library, the sound of his boots resounding off the walls, Arielle heard and peaked out of the doors. She waited until he went into the room and then silently crept up to the room door and put her ear against the wood.

She was prepared to jump back at the first sound of a fight but instead she heard the carefully steady voice of her master on the other side. His deep voice rumbled in response to something the other Immortal said. Both were eerily calm and it made Arielle almost afraid. For some unknown reason she was uneasy about her own safety.

When she suspected they weren't about to fight she slowly crept away from the door and retreated back to her library. There she sat close to the door and listened for any sound. It felt like hours before the door could be heard opening. She rushed to peak out of the library and could see Belfeiro making his way to the front doors, before he walked out he turned slightly and met her eyes. He grinned devilishly and then chuckled and was shown out by a man servant.

Her eyes widened and deep down she wanted to smack him, she shrunk away behind the door. When he was gone she ventured out to find her mate. She ran into him as he was stalked out of the room they had been talking in. He looked gravely furious, yet calm at the same time. It was his eyes, pitch black and full of anger.

He brushed past her and she became confused. She fell into step behind him and looked up at him. "What did he want?"

He kept walking, "He wanted you. What else do you think he would want?"

Her eyes widened, "And what did you tell him?"

He stopped at the bottom of the stairs, his hand gripped the banister and his knuckled turned white. He turned his body to face her, "You question what I would tell him?" His voice was deadly calm but on the edge was plain fury.

She shrunk back where she stood and looked at the ground, her face turned red. "I, well, I-I had to ask, didn't I?"

He took deliberate steps in her direction causing her to back up until he reached out and grabbed her shoulders. He yanked her close to him and smashed his lips to hers passionately and heatedly. She melted against him but was still confused. When he pulled away he sucked in a lungful of air and let it out slowly, his warm breath washing over her skin. She shivered and he opened his eyes to look at her, they were blue again. She stared back breathlessly.

"Does it feel like I would give him to you?" He asked her.

She shook her head and he gently let her go. When her feet touched the ground again she looked up at him and he saw a flash of her old self in her face before it disappeared. He spun back around and continued up the stairs, leaving her at the bottom. She wandered in a daze back to the library and shut the door.

In his room The Kurgan was preparing to leave and his woman didn't know it yet. He never traveled with much, just his armor packed with his bow and most importantly his sword. It was all he needed. He looked around his room one last time knowing exactly what he was doing. As he walked down the stairs he recalled what had transpired behind closed doors.

**_Belfeiro stood there with his back to The Kurgan, his hands clasped loosely. When the master of the castle entered the Italian didn't even turn to respectfully greet him, no one was offended. He merely kept looking out the window._**

**_"She's a beautiful woman Kurgan, feisty too." He finally turned to look at him, his eyes glittering with a plan. "How ever did you find her?"_**

**_The giant raised an eyebrow and stood by the door, it kept him from bursting into a fight which is what he knew Belfeiro wanted. "I pushed the boundaries of our universe."_**

**_The other Immortal showed mock surprise. "You mean you went to their world? So she's a human?" He chuckled, "But then again, in the end aren't we all?" He smirked._**

**_The Kurgan wasn't amused. "Not us, and not her any longer_**.**_" His scowl darkened, "She is mine, if you wish to take her draw your knife."_**

**_Belfeiro's smirk slowly faded into an expression a scolded child would make._**

**_Both of them stood still knowing that neither wanted a fight at that moment._**

**_The Italian spoke, "I actually carry news from a clan in Scotland, one you know."_**

**_"What would an Italian be doing in Scotland?" The other asked irritably._**

**_Belfeiro rolled his eyes and dismissed it with a wave of his hand, "Maters naught, but I was there. You are familiar with the Fraser clan. Well they asked me to carry a message to you that they want you to fight again for them. You helped them to victory once many years ago and they know you live today."_**

**_The Kurgan's eye flashed with longing but it vanished quick._**

**_The ever-smug Immortal grinned, "You know you crave war. You also know you crave to have your woman back." When his rival showed surprise he went on. "Oh yes I know all about how she was drugged to the point of amnesia. That is what she suffers from and it's particularly hard on you isn't it? Go to Scotland again, fight and she will be cured."_**

**_The Kurgan knew there was more to it, "What else?"_**

**_Belfeiro was surprised this time, "We may be rivals but I know how it is to lose the woman you love." It was true even though he was prone to rape many women. Like almost every other Immortal he had been in love and it had destroyed him when she grew so old her mind went and she no longer recognized him. After many years of that she finally passed away but watching her slowly forget him made him sympathize with his top rival. It was surprising to them both. "In return the Fraser clan is to give me a castle and an entire loch if I can get you to go fight them. I want it and can't get it alone. If you help them you help me and even though we will eventually kill each other I will, in turn, help you."_**

**_It was an almost perfect offer._**

**_The Kurgan didn't trust it and Belfeiro knew._**

**_He sighed and turned to fully face the other man. "It's only natural you don't trust me. Hell! I wouldn't trust me!" He suddenly looked exhausted. "As impossible as this deal sounds its true. Everything I say is true. Fight for the Clan, get me that loch, and I'll bring her back. The real Arielle."_**

**_The look in his eye was so deadly serious that The Kurgan knew Belfeiro wasn't lying. There was more to it but he knew the Italian wouldn't say and no amount of threatening or torture would make him say it. Inside he was desperate to have the woman he knew come back to him but he would never admit it to a living soul. He knew Belfeiro would offer a chance like this and while it would most likely be true he knew it would leave his woman alone and unprotected. He knew in her mental state that anything could become of her. Yet, he was willing to take this chance. He knew by instinct that she wasn't going to die, no, Belfeiro wouldn't do that. He wanted something and when someone helped he kept his word, he was a vile creature but an honest one when he wanted to be._**

**_After staring off at the stone wall in thought The Kurgan looked back at his enemy. "I sail when I reach the sea."_**

**_The other smiled, "So it's settled then?"_**

**_The Kurgan growled deep in his throat and his eye turned pitch black. "Yes. It is," he rumbled._**

**_Belfeiro laughed heartily and clapped his hands together. "Very well done! You will be a happy man when you return." He began to walk out of the room but as soon as he passed the master a grip of iron latched onto his arm. He dropped his smile and looked up into the piercing gaze of The Kurgan. "You're ruining my sleeve."_**

**_He squeezed harder, the discomfort was obvious on the Italian's face. The Kurgan didn't move, "Watch yourself Belfeiro."_**

**_He knew perfectly well what the count meant; Arielle was not to be violated in any way. He could respect that. In truth he really did want that loch and he really couldn't get it on his own, but he also wanted to wage war on The Kurgan in a new, unique way. He simply stared back at the giant and was released, the look in his eye was enough for the brutal Immortal. He brushed the wrinkles out of the fabric and left the room._**

**_The Kurgan turned to watch him go and knew he had just sparked a very hot inferno in his and Arielle's life. Whatever Belfeiro had planned for her would be unpleasant, but if what he said was true then The Kurgan had no choice. Nothing was truly helping her to come back and while he knew she had an idea of her past life, she was still not herself. If giving her over to the mercy of his most hated rival besides the Scot and Effete Snob is what it took to get his cosmic mate back. . .then so be it._**


	25. Chapter 25

**I was staying at a place where I had no internet. But I have two chapters to upload here and now! Enjoy. . .**

"What do you mean you're leaving?!"

Arielle was standing behind The Kurgan as he was preparing to leave. He was on his horse and was satring down at the woman who looked terrified. His true mate wouldn't have been so scared. She would have wanted go with him, this woman did not.

After Belfeiro had left and The Kurgan had gone to his room, the woman watched him. she had followed him when he stormed out of the front doors and kept asking the same question; "What had happened?"

At first it hurt him too much to reply, even as he sat atop his horse he it pained him to see her in such a way. But he was an expert in keeping his feelings hidden and he did so now. As she begged for an answer he fixed his gloves and checked his sword.

"I said I'm leaving. It's simple. You are to stay here and behave." That was all he said.

When she had first asked he was frustrated but now he was furious. She should be fighting to join him not begging him to stay. She stood on the front steps wringing her hands nervously. In her mind she was terrified to live without him; he was her protector as far as she was concerned. She was still confused about who she really was and it was showing.

"B-but you can't. . ." she whispered as she hung her head.

He finally looked at her and when she met his eyes she saw that he wasn't looking at her with kindess. He was angry with her. . .

"And why should I stay?" He asked.

She looked off to the side and mumbled something.

"Speak woman!" He shouted.

She jumped.

"Who will protect me?" She asked in a low voice.

At that a bubble of fury burst in his head and it took strong will power to keep in contained. Instead he laughed as if it was the funniest question ever asked.

"No one," he said cruelly.

He turned his horse away before he could see the terror and hurt on her face and kicked its sides. Ride and animal sped away into the distance. Feeling rejected she turned and ran from the steps up into her room where she flung the door open and laid out across the bed crying. She carried on for hours like that, fear causing most of her tears.

Around the castle the servants carried about their normal duties. Mel was sad for her friend but knew she had a job to do and that her place was in the kitchens. She had tried to comfort her mistress but the woman was inconsolable. The middle aged mortal had left the woman to her crying, ever she knew that this wasn't the same Arielle they all knew and remembered. This wasn't the same woman who had changed their master into a different man.

They all saw the way the mistress had changed when she had returned. None of them understood and didn't want to, it was their master's business and they were but humble, lowly, servants of the castle. In The Kurgan's absence they had been given slightly more authority since their master didn't believe in bringing in officials to help run his house hold.

It was a surprise to them all when there was a resounding, and persistent, knock on the front doors. The lead servant, the one who had served the master the longest made his way to answer the call. He gave the man he greeted a cold stare.

It was the Belfeiro man, the one who wore pompous clothes and carried an air that was just as evil as the master. He stood there with his mute of a manservant. He smiled smugly at the servant waiting at the door, his appearance was that of a new home master.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Almand. The Kurgan's man. Thank you for opening the door, now if you don't mind, stand aside." He rudely pushed by without waiting for his order to be obeyed.

Almand had no choice but to let him pass. This was a man of nobility and was far superior to himself in class and sword. He knew that if he didn't stand aside the Italian would cut him down to place, so to speak. He didn't make it any easier for Belfeiro to pass though, standing solidly in his way and forcing him to push by roughly. The discomfort on the noble's face was clear, it made Almand smile.

When he strode into the castle, the new master turned and full admired the place. "My! The Kurgan, a brute he may be, has fine taste in nobility. He certainly made sure this place stood for his title, but still rings with his brute humbleness."

The other servants had all gathers at the end of the great hall and were looking at the Italian and his intimidating man servant. They all thought the same questions; what was he doing here? Why? What did he want?

He looked at them and opened his arms wide, his servant behind him wordlessly. "Ah! The most willing, and bravest, of servants I have ever laid eyes on! To brave being this wicked man's staff so willing, it's admirable." He grinned. "And now you will all belong to me."

Mel blanched and hid behind her husband, her son Eric, pulling in beside her to protect her. Almand slammed the door shut and turned to face him with a glare in his eyes.

"You?" His deep voice rang out through the stunned silence. "How dare _you_ waltz into our master's castle and claim ownership after he goes to fight a battle for your gain!" His voice was aged and measured with each word. He was a man who learned from his master over the years and knew how to sound big without losing his composure.

Belfeiro's grin shrunk to a smirk. He turned, his man servant turning before him and taking two steps toward the German. The Italian put a gloved hand out to stop his man. "Now, now, Mortitz. This man just needs to be taught his place. It would seem that The Kurgan does not properly educate his servants on status' and class."

With a false smile he strode back towards the mortal. He chuckled in his throat but Almand held his ground. This may be a noble but he was still the enemy of his master and therefore Almand disliked him immensely. The German stood his ground, even when Belfeiro straightened his glove and landed a heavy punch across the elder mortal's face. With a gasp from the crowd of servants the man stumbled but was otherwise unaffected.

The Immortal grinned manically and as soon as Almand stood straight again punched him again. The blow made the mortal's nose begin to bleed. The Italian yanked him towards him by the collar of his vest and hammered five more blows into his face before stopping for breath. Not once did Almand fight back, he was old for a human though he didn't look so. He knew his classes and knew he didn't fight a nobleman back, although this man hardly deserved the title of Noble. He was far from it.

From the crowd the onlookers gasped with each blow and not one dared to help him, it was how Almand wanted it anyway. He'd rather they protect themselves than attempt to help him. It was the sad order to their world but the only one they knew.

He let the man drop to the ground and then stood up straight and smoothed out his chemise and over coat, making the wrinkles go away. He shook out his hand and pulled out a handkerchief to wipe the blood away from his knuckles. As soon as his back was turned though the tough old man began to laugh and spit a glob of red saliva to the ground behind the man.

The Immortal raised an eyebrow and turned around, this wasn't what he expected. He saw blood mixed drool dripping from the other man's chin, despite the blood and bruises the human was grinning. His eye was beginning to darken and swell, his cheek was swollen, but the glare in his eye was still there.

"So you are resilient." Belfeiro remarked. "If I didn't have someone else to tend to I'd drop you like a fly. No matter." He looked to his servant, Mortiz, and nodded once.

The mute went forward and grabbed the laughing German, dragging him to the outside to beat him as he wished.

"Let him live for today!" The new master called out as Almand's laughter faded out. "I don't want to kill anyone on the first day." He made it sound like it was an action he really wanted to stand by. He turned to the crowd, "I am master now. Your old one will be gone for some time, but I am here. Now!" He grinned again and looked up the stairs. "Who will care to show me to the Mistress's chambers?"

At that another man lunged out of the crowd, Mel's husband. "Ye leaver her alon! Und'rstand? We let ye abuse our own and claim this place but the mistress has had enough don to 'er."

Belfeiro turned his head and eyed the man with one eye. "Oh? And will anyone care to stop me from going to her? I will eventually, after all it's not like one of you will stop me. Like your master I am not what you would define as a normal man."

He stared the human down until he dropped his gaze. It was obvious they all felt ashamed but they all knew the Italian was right. They didn't know what their master really was but they knew he wasn't altogether human, apparently he wasn't the only one of his kind because here was another claiming to be the same. Something about the mistress was different as well. Was she one of them? She seemed weaker. . .

They all dispersed as Almand's screams finally echoed through the courtyard and reached the servants on the inside. The younger men grit their teeth and took the screams of their elder. They all wanted to retaliate; while The Kurgan was a master to be feared and strictly obeyed he gave them their livelihood and provided a home for them when they had none otherwise. They weren't fond of him but they respected him were fond of their mistress and right now things were going to be difficult for her. None of them liked this Belfeiro man just from watching their master act around him, they knew they could trust his lead and did so.


	26. Chapter 26

**A bit shorter but as it sometimes happens I couldn't find a better part to split the previous chapter and this one. Do enjoy all the same. . .**

A guide to Arielle was not needed. He could sense where she was, sensing people accurately without seeing them was one of Belfeiro's talents. He looked both ways and after letting his senses adjust to the new castle he turned right and went to the alcove at the end that led to the master's chambers. There he carefully pushed the door open and found the woman laying across the bed with her back to him, he grinned when she appeared to be sleeping.

He stepped inside the room quietly but suddenly slammed the door shut behind him. Arielle shot up and twisted around to face him, her eyes went wide with fear.

"You!" She shouted. "You made him leave!"

Before she knew it Belfeiro had her wrapped in his embrace. "Oh dear child forgive me!" He shouted. "I thought I would never get you back."

She was confused even more than she was already. She stared at the wall behind him dumb founded.

"What?" She croaked.

He pulled away. "My pupil! Do you remember me not?" He leaned back further and looked heartbroken. "Oh God no! How can it be!?"

Her eyes were so round and big, "First you attack me and then come to me this way? What the fuck are you doing?" At the foreign word she cringed, she remembered saying it but had no idea where she had learned.

He cocked an eye brow at her word choice. "Interesting. My girl your delicate brain has been washed in the turmoil surrounding you."

She slowly eased herself back across the bed away from him. "What do you mean?"

He sighed dramatically. "It's a long story but to make it short you have been living a lie." She looked at him to continue, which he did. "You were studying under me of course, years ago. Until He came. . .He wanted to fight us but only one can and he issued a fight with you. If he was able to disarm you and bring you to his knees he would. . .well he would take you away. Of course he beat you being the weakling that you are and I failed to protect you. After which he brought you here and God only knows how many lies he's filled you with. . ."

She turned her head to eyeball him with one of her reddish brown orbs. "What about the life I remember before this one? A place far away with strange metal beasts that move fast and the strange times and clothes that people wear. What about my time with Bronson and the Hartmann's?"

It took Belfeiro's mind a moment to comprehend what she was saying. "_She must mean the land of humans. So her amnesia is filled with holes." _He quickly thought of a way around it and grinned in a vulpine manner. "Why those memories are false my dear. After he took you from me he used and tortured you." He sat on the bed and reached out for her as if to comfort her, it was obvious she was becoming terrified of herself and The Kurgan by the way her breath was coming in jerky movements. "He lost you to the Hartmanns but for reasons I don't know he fought to get you back. It's a miracle he hasn't killed you yet. An Immortal such as yourself has a powerful Quickening."

The last sentence made her lips part and her breathing level out. "I'm. . .Immortal?"

He nodded slowly, once, twice. "Yes, you are," his voice was slow and careful. "A very powerful one who has yet to unlock your true potential."

"Where did I come from if not what I remember?"

His eye twitched, he had had enough of making up stories. He wanted to get to her and carry out his plan as fast as he could. "I found you wandering the Steppes of Russia. Obviously you aren't a native though but no one else knows where you come from.

* * *

From aboard his ship The Kurgan could feel the emotions emanating from his mate and he gripped the railings of his vessel so tight the wood fractured ever so slightly. His knuckles turned white and while the splintered wood pierced his skin he felt no pain.


	27. Chapter 27

**Far from over. . .Enjoy. . .**

**THWACK!**

"Ahhh!"

"Get up you lazy cow! You aren't finished! Now you must do it all over!"

Mel watched with teary eyes as Arielle was on the ground, Belfeiro standing over her with a staff in his hand. His hair was still neatly in placer and he was dressed in all his finery. The woman, however, was on her belly, covered in dirt and grime and bruised along her fair skin. She wore a black chemise along with matching trousers. Her feet bare and just as dirty as the rest of her, not to mention scraped and bleeding.

She looked like hell. She felt like it as well.

"I said get up!" The Italian grabbed a handful of her hair and yanked her upwards, it appeared she hadn't bathed in days. He thrust her forward, "You will keep doing it for the time I give you! Not a moment sooner will you fail. This is all for your own good my pet." His smile was a twisted one as she assumed her place over the fire pit.

He was having her balance on one foot on an unstable platform over a small fire pit with white hot coals and red flames. He claimed it would improve her focus and build her core strength, not to mention help her balance. She had to hold the pose for over an hour and a half and if she faltered he would strike in her head, back of legs with his staff, she would fall and if she was quick enough she would avoid the burning coals.

It had been three weeks since The Kurgan had left and Belfeiro had replaced him. In the first few days he was kind to Arielle, brainwashing her already fragile and soft mind to believe whatever he wanted her too. He had come up with such detailed accounts of her life that she easily fell into his trap and took in all his lies. She came to see The Kurgan as her enemy and had promised Belfeiro that upon the man's return, she would kill him.

In this time she had also taken up a new personality. One of roughness and anger. She had a new determination that the servants knew was wrong; they remembered how she was.

Mel had tried to convince her otherwise. The poor woman was scorned with a slew of horrible words and names. She knew it wasn't the mistress's fault for behavior, the words still stung but Mel was just as determined to stay by the young woman's side. If she was indeed young the servants didn't know for sure of her age anymore.

As Arielle took the position again with Belfeiro sitting in a comfortable chair, he stared at her with a dark gleefulness that his plan was actually working. He was successful in completely brainwashing her and molding her to what he wanted; his "immortal" pupil, a fierce warrior. He wanted to end The Kurgan.

Then again, who didn't?

It seemed the best way to do so was through his own mate. By turning her against him and ultimately have them fight one another, hopefully it would end in her death. The act would leave the mighty Kurgan wounded in many ways and give the Italian Immortal a small opportunity to strike. It would be a very slight window and he would have to be extreme precise in his timing and effective in his blow. As his "pupil" trained he would sit and sharpen his sword to get it excruciatingly sharp.

Someone would not live the upcoming battle upon the Immortal's return. . .

* * *

The Kurgan struck down another man in Scotland but his usual enjoyment of battle was gone. Blood and crimson gore coated his armor, painted his sword red. His eyes were dark, not with its usual love of death but with madness. Since his departure and the eminent installment of Belfeiro as master of his household, he had been feeling intense emotions from his mate. The emotions were confused, angry, fear, pain, all at once, even a subtle yearn for his return.

Something was happening to his mate, he didn't know what but whatever it was, was causing an extreme metamorphosis in her.

The battle was suddenly called back for the day as a horn sounded and men both sides receded. He lumbered back with his men. The victory was starting to lean on his side and women to entertain the men had come wondering into camp. The Kurgan brushed aside the eager ones with rough hands. He made his way to his tent and sat on his cot, taking his usual ritual of staring at the opposite wall until he fell asleep.

This night there was something different in his routine.

"Sir!" Came a shout from outside.

The man scowled and his dark glare turned to the tent entrance. He said not a word, he didn't need to speak to those lower than him in the way of life.

"Sir!"The voice came again. "There be a mon here who says 'e wishes to speak to ye. 'E said he'll be waiting in the glen ootside camp, the information he claims ta have he says is of great importance to ye and a woman they say."

The man who was speaking, a tall Scot with dark brown hair and blue eyes, reeled back when the flaps where suddenly flung back and The Kurgan towered above him.

"What woman?!" He growled.

The Scot blanched at first but then squared his shoulders, "He didn't say exactly. Just tha ye'd want to hear what he has to say." With that he looked at the Immortal expectantly for orders.

Instead of saying anything else the giant man strode outside the tent and quickly made his way to the afore mentioned glen. His normally docile heart was pounding and gave him a painfully sick feeling in his throat. He followed by the light of the moon to where he could smell, and glimpse, another man standing through some trees. The man he came face to face with was not who he expected.

He stopped short just twenty yards away from the other Immortal. His eyes grew wide and the narrowed back into his glare.

"MacLeod," he growled.

At hearing his name he smirked. "Hello Kurgan. How's life away from Arielle?"

"Shut your mouth, I'm in no mood to kill you tonight."

MacLeod was mildly surprised, he raised an eyebrow to go along with his smirk. "You? Too tired to fight your greatest enemy?"

"I'll still kill you any time any day," The Kurgan's glare deepened. What do you want?" He asked gruffly.

The Scot remained where he was, smirk and all. "To tell you that you should start thinking about going back. It's been over three weeks, that's long enough." He dropped his smug looks.

"What do you know of her?"

"She's alive and. . .somewhat alright. As far as I know he hasn't raped her yet. I'd say she needs another full month before you should come back." MacLeod with a calm seriousness.

The other Immortal stared back. "What is he doing to her?"

"Building her into he wants."

"And what is that?"

The Scot had fulfilled what he come to do, which was to inform his friend's enemy that she was alive and . . . well. He had nothing else he wanted to tell The Kurgan or say at all.

"She's almost ready, this war is almost over. I wouldn't waste my time if I were you." He began backing up towards the darkness of the woods.

The Kurgan allowed him to slip away into the night. It had been a long and tiresome day, what with his mate's emotions taking their toll. He had never been this far from her either and it was wearing him thin in many ways. He wanted to go back to her and see what MacLeod meant but he had a job to do here in Scotland first. Besides, he may have hated MacLeod and even always wanted to kill him, but he knew the Immortal was kind to Arielle and that he would make sure no serious harm befell her. He growled and wound up punching a tree trunk in his fury.

"Soon my mate," he whispered as he ignored his bleeding knuckles. "You yearn for my return and your want will soon be given."

They had endured three agonizing weeks away from each other, to him it felt more like years. He believed he could, and knew he would, wait one month longer to get back to his mate and see what she had become.

**OK! I am not dead! My laptop troubles...*facepalm*...and I was sort of going for trying to make you feel like The Kurgan and Arielle were...Being away from each other for so long O_O**


	28. Chapter 28

**Nearing the end of this arc. But this story still has more to come. . .Enjoy. . .**

She looked at the razor and then at the reflection in the mirror. Belfeiro hovered behind her with his arms crossed and his eyes dark.

"Do as I have instructed and your training will be complete," he said.

Arielle had faithfully done all he asked in the past month and a half. From causing pain to herself, to inflicting regular beating against the servants. She had been against the latter action but in the end his master told her she had no choice. She still had no memory of her time with him prior to her stay with The Kurgan and the Hartmanns, but this man had been so adamant about her true identity that she _had _to believe him. She lifted the razor but let it drop again.

The man behind her stared on in patience, "Go on," he coaxed her. "This will signal the end of all your training and lessons. No more unless you deem to do so. This will let others know your status. This is it."

The woman looked at her own reflection and saw her wide brown eyes staring back. In them was a mix of cold hard passion to end one man's life, in there somewhere she tried to find innocence, but she couldn't Somehow, somewhere, in the past month and a half she had transformed into a trained killer with one objective on her mind.

* * *

Over the course of her master's stay she had been put through brutal training methods that left her with mental, as well as a few physical, scars. Through burning coals and beating, from his personal man servant. She recalled him all whispering in her ear that what he was doing was for the best. In one aspect of it all she was happy he never forced himself onto her, she did not and would not want him.

During this time she had had constant feeling swim through her mind and heart that didn't belong to her. Ones of dark love and longing, she didn't know who they came from or where or why she felt them. All she knew was that she just did and part of her wanted to know who. The other part of her was a new part, a callous woman who only knew that she wanted to have blood on her hands.

Two people had come to her mind, two parts of herself. The hard woman who didn't believe in hope anymore and the one who held out that this too was a lie and that The Kurgan was truth. Of course after all the sword training, endless hours that she and Moritz had spent while Belfeiro watched from his comfortable chair placed in the courtyard. Even when her delicate hands bled from the work and her limbs were turned to mush after the countless beatings of Moritz's sword against hers. The dumb mute had nearly chopped off limb and head more than once, it was by sheer willpower to live that she managed to dodge him and run away for her life. After hiding behind her master he would sneer in disgust.

"You coward," he would growl.

He raised his favorite short staff of oak wood and brought the gnarled handle down on her shoulders and back. As she screamed and then bit her tongue to stop the noise, he added to the bruises that already covered her from the fist fights he had her engage in with the much stronger Moritz. He stopped when she cowered at his feet, nearly kissing them.

"How do you expect to beat The Kurgan if you can't even beat Moritz?!" He screamed. "He's mute and slow for God's sake! A blind man could beat him you weakling! You weak cow!" For good measure he brought his boot under her and into her stomach.

She gagged at the force and flipped over on her side gasping for breath. Seething with fury Belfeiro turned and snapped his fingers, Moritz grabbed the woman and chained her up in her usual spot in the courtyard spread eagle. He left her with doing anything more. She would be left to her pain and anyone who tried to help her would be beat if Belfeiro caught them. Mel braved the beating and would sneak to her mistress to give her water or discreetly tend to her wounds.

When night fell Belfeiro would come to her and light the pit that was before her. He would lean in close to her ear and whisper things that she had no choice but to believe. Poisonous words of hate towards the man who had been harboring her for as long as she could remember. He spouted stories of her "past" and her new mission.

She came to believe him. What other choice did she have? If she fought him he beat her, if she gave in he was kind.

After accepting his words he would smile and let her loose. Afterwards he showed her to her room where a hot bath and meal were waiting for her. She would eat the food and bathe and then sleep in her bed, only to be roughly woken in the morning for another round of endless training.

She came to truly believe him.

She even came to be able to beat Moritz.

The day came when she was forced to fight him until her arms gave ou. She fought with all her training and also with her reserved desperation. The whole time she seemed to hold her own quite well when suddenly she got an inch of the upper hand. She screamed as she knocked his sword out of his hands and got him down on hie knees. The poor man, used and without any direction that was not provided for him by his Italian master, felt no pain and so grabbed the blade of her sword as it rested before his neck. Blood dripped down his forearms, off his elbows and made small wine red circles on the cobblestones beneath him.

"Bravo!" Belefeiro descended the stairs from where he had been watching with the intensity of a hunting hawk, and the sound of his clapping hands resounded off the stones of the courtyard. "Bravo indeed." He came up behind her as he usually did. "Now kill him."

The only surprise she showed was the widening of her eyes. With only a split second of hesitation to recognize that her master did, indeed, want his man servant dead she yanked her sword out of the man's grasp and then merciless lopped off the poor soul's head. His dead eyes looked at her from the ground, she stared back with a hard eyes, without remorse. She had been issued an order and she carried it out, that was all that mattered.

* * *

Now she stood here with her second to last order, the silver razor glistened in her hands. She looked away from herself and back into the eyes of her master.

"Yes my pet." He cooed softly, gently.

* * *

The Kurgan was in his cabin on board his own ship. They were in route back to the coast of Saxonia. Suddenly he shot up from his sleep and let out a guttural yell that was also somewhat of a growl. A cold feeling ripped through his core and he knew it was Belfeiro's doing. He went out to the railings and looked out towards the direction where the shore would be in view once the sun came up.

Normally, since the Prize had been won and any Immortals who had human counterparts had already had their destinies made and could live on, Immortals who appeared from any other source into the Highlander world were subject to death. Their futures were unknown. As The Kurgan explained to his mate early on he could in fact kill other Immortals.

His blue eyes darkened to a jet black; someone was going to pay with their lives. And it wasn't going to be his people. Belfeiro's time on earth was coming to an end.

**What did Arielle do? O_O I want to hear your ideas. . .**


	29. Chapter 29

**Here it is. . .Enjoy.**

The time had come.

It had felt more like years that he had been gone, instead of months. Now he was on the shores of his Saxonia, his murky heart stirred and burned in his chest. He wanted his mate back and he was going to get her. He didn't care who he had to kill, or maim, or completely destroy. If any harm had been done to her there would be rivers of blood.

The last burst of feeling he had gotten from his estranged mate was confusion, hate and anger. He wanted to know why. He mounted his horse while still on the ship and as soon as the gang plank was in place the men had barely enough time to jump out of the count's way. He didn't care about leaving anything behind, all he needed was his sword and with it strapped to his back he had rode onward. His beast pounded away over the rolling hills, through the wooded forests, it had just as much passion as its master.

The energy and power radiating from the Kurgan actually fueled his steed to go faster and last longer.

While he rode he neither thought about their future or their turbulent past, none of that mattered. It didn't matter she was a being from an entirely different dimension. It didn't matter that he was evil at heart and she was good. He loved her, yes he could tell himself that now. He craved her, yearned for her. That taunt he made to the Highlander after raping his woman was now true for him and his mate. He had killed for her, sent armies marching, torn men apart. He was keen on anarchy but a side to him was also calculating.

The Immortal knew he could ride into his castle sword drawn and ready, and go into a complete rage. He could let it all out, or. . .he could ride to the front gates and see everything. To observe your surroundings and keep a level head in the face of danger was what truly defined a warrior. And he was the ultimate warrior.

He knew exactly what he was going to do, no matter what horror faced him at his own domain, whatever had happened to her. . .

His horse suddenly surged forward and the landscape became a blur. The power coming off the mighty fighter engrossed even the animal he rode. Such power, from far away even MacLeod felt the Kurgan and looked up from where he was. He silently prayed for Arielle's soul, and sanity. The Highlander knew someone was going to die a very bloody death that day, one of the three who were going to meet.

Belfeiro too felt his enemy's emotion and power. His grip tightened on the arm of the chair he sat in. A lithe figure noiselessly entered the study. The woman was dressed completely in black and stood in the shadow of the doorway, it helped that the sun was covered by substantial grey clouds. The figure said not a word but instead waited for the Italian Immortal to say something.

He kept looking at the floor, a view just past his knees. "When he arrives I will go first. Then I will call you and you will do what I command." He suddenly whipped his head up to face the person in shadow. His eyes flashed from fury to pleading empathy. "I know I said you'd be free but this is your first battle. You have to listen to your old master if you wish to live. Remember he comes to kill you."

The shadowy person said nothing as they slipped away back into the depths of the castle. The servants watched apprehensively. Mel was so anxious it pained her.

It wasn't long before Belfeiro could hear the clattering of hooves in the courtyard. He arose from his seat and made his stately way to the front steps. He pushed the doors opened slowly, savoring the feel of good craftsman ship in the solid, dark oak. Thankfully the sun was still blind and it helped that he wasn't left to blink stupidly in brightness, he could stare down at the enemy who had come to kill him.

The Kurgan was as fierce was ever. His one sleeved battle attire was as black as his eyes. His sword was drawn but his stance was relaxed, too relaxed for Belfeiro's state of mind. He had expected the Kurgan to come crashing up the steps and attempt to gut him on sight, but the beast before him was so still and deadly. Calculating.

"Enough time has been spent with you gone so I won't waste time with formalities and tricks to stall." He didn't grin or give some sarcastic remark, he knew what was going to end up happening. He simply clasped his hands behind his back and began slowly pacing. "I was, however, surprised by the degree of her connection to you."

The Kurgan looked at him coldly and didn't need to ask how or when Belfiero had found out.

The other nodded. "I found out quite early actually. She would look right through me in a way than was unnatural and unsettling. I know she isn't one of us, nor is she human any longer. But she is from the human world. So I got to wondering what could have possibly drove you to her at all. I won't claim to understand you had some strange pull, I know you did but don't understand why or how. But you did and doing that did something to the both of you." He stopped where he had started and faced the giant. "And now here you are, I assume I now own the land. In turn I will give you what I took," he snapped his fingers. "Here is your woman Kurgan."

He didn't need to step aside as the woman came out. The very clouds above seemed to darkened with the anger he gave off. His woman was not herself. The Arielle who came out before him looked cold, vile. She had shaved half of her head* in a sort of declaration of her new status as warrior. She was dressed entirely in black, her eyes covered by a streak of black coal dust, a wicked sword was strapped to her side. She drew it and looked him dead in the eye when she did, he knew she would kill him.

** *Anyone remember how the priesty from the movie shaved his head? That's what I was going for. I don't know if it meant something else but I made it a warrior thing.  
I've been super busy and a tad bit stressed lately (no excuse all the same) which is why I've been falling behind. BUT the creative stream is flowing and I'll have the next chapter up by tomorrow! I'll also be continuing with WCB. Another reason for my absence is my work on a collaboration story with a friend for an LOTR story. . .it's been crazy writing but so much fun x) Until tomorrow!**


	30. Chapter 30

**Ha! I'd say this makes a good chapter 30. . .Enjoy. **

"You," the woman raised her sword and pointed the tip at his throat. "You used me, defiled me and my name."

"You don't _know _your name," he growled.

"Silence!" She swung her blade down and buried it in a tree growing on by the stairs. She yanked it back out and glared at him. "It's because of you I don't remember anything! You monster!"

"Arielle, you damned woman!" He shouted. Suddenly he seemed to catch something in his mind, his lip lifted in a sneer. "When I disarm you I will do whatever I wish to you. I'll rape you right here on the stairs. It wasn't hard before."

Belfeiro had stepped back to watch what his pupil was capable was. This new development intrigued him, how easily the Kurgan's words got to her. Her chewed on a thumb nail and watched attentively.

The woman's eyes lit up in fury. "I said be quiet. . ." her voice was barely a whisper. Her cheeks blossomed with red.

He could see he was got to her. It was by some luck that it was so easy. "You're so small compared to me. In many ways AH HA HA HA HA HA HA!" His laugh bellowed across the courtyard.

"Bastard!" She pulled a dagger out of her boot and threw it directly at his face.

It whirled towards him but never found its target. Instead he merely plucked it out of the air before it had a chance to strike home. He grinned wolfishly.

"Come now woman," he taunted. "I'll take you one way or another. You'll scream and I'll laugh. No matter how fiercely you deny it you'll want more."

Belfeiro had to repress a laugh himself. The Kurgan was simply toying with this woman. He was also a bit disappointed that, while he had trained her physically, and taught her to be indifferent to murder, she was still very susceptible to his taunts. Then again what did the Italian care? He had come to destroy the Kurgan and had had some fun in rattling the woman. He admitted that he found joy in torturing her just as he enjoyed watching her ears and cheeks burn from the humility and shame his own enemy brought on her.

She suddenly made Belfeiro jump as she screamed and launched herself into an attack. He scowled when she swung her sword and charged, only for the giant to side step her. She stumbled forward and her weapon caught between two stones, jabbing the hilt into her stomach and furthering her anger. She spun around and her "master" glared at her.

"You damn bitch!" He shouted. "After all our training and you give in to him just like that!? Fight him you cow! Do as I taught you! Or I'll kill you myself!"

The Kurgan looked back at his true adversary and growled in his throat. He looked back at the woman and found that her cold stare was back and she looked to be in better control. He raised his sword and scratched it along hers. Without warning he lunged forward, thrusting the sword towards her. The move caught her off guard and she had barely enough time to leaned away from the strike, bending backwards. She yelped, her move was still to slow; he had sliced through her shoulder easily enough.

She ignored the flowing blood and grabbed her hilt with both hands, gripping tightly. The two were still, calculating each other. It was Arielle who lunged back into the fight. She struck at him three times and three time he blocked her, each move sent out a loud ring. Despite that she was holding her own, she was too tense in her movements, too reckless. The Kurgan was the obvious one in control.

Again she lunged and this time he was able to deflect the blade by using the momentum to slide it through his armor clad hand and fling it to the side. He quickly grabbed her with the same hand and yanked her close to him, he looked her dead in the eyes and she was suddenly aware that Belfeiro had convinced her to take more than she could handle. Staring into his dark eyes she saw something to truly be afraid of; dominance.

She yanked away and smacked his blade with her broadside. She hit again and again, she wanted to show him she was't afraid.

But she was.

In her new found fear she faltered and broke the one rule Belfeiro told her never to break.

* * *

_She stumbled in her training once, in the very beginning. The master smacked the back of her knees and then grabbed the back of her neck with rough hands. He shoved her face in the dirt and then yanked her backwards so that she was pressed against him._

_"Never, ever, leave your back to the enemy," he whispered venomously into her ear._

* * *

She lost all hope when she felt his muscular arms wrap around her collar bones, one hand grab and squeeze her breast so hard she lost her breath. His tongue made its way up her neck and to her ear. She screamed!

* * *

_There had been screeching tires, blood, her brother, Charlie, dying in her arms after saving her from a car crash. He couldn't say anything as his senses dulled, his sense of touch going first, followed by sound and then sight. She held onto him as they were rushed to a hospital. They were separated. Eventually the Kurgan appeared in her room!_

_She screamed then too._

* * *

"What's happening to me?" She whispered.

The Kurgan held her against him, his face was emotionless.

* * *

_The next thing she knew she was walking through an office building, her old work. The Kurgan was there, silently terrorizing every man who dared look in her general direction. He taunted her, teased her, threatened her with sexual intimidation. He almost got his way several times. . ._

_MacLeod. . .Kurgan._

_She loved him!?_

* * *

She screamed and threw herself to the ground with such force that the Kurgan decided to let go and watched her roll on the ground at his feet.

Belfeiro stepped forward and slowly circled The Kurgan while Arielle screamed over the raging pain in her head. "She took the poison for so long that it damaged her perception. She thought she remember but her mind was so tender that it was easy for me to come in and make me believe whatever I wanted her too. Look at her," he was referring to her dramatic appearance change. "I convinced her to become a serious warrior. Unfortunately the withdraws, not to mention," he stood a few yards away and raised an eyebrow in thought, "the emotional distress she's been experiencing. Are starting to take effect. I've heard it really is painful." To emphasize his point Arielle screamed. She withered in her place on the floor. She rolled onto her back and took deep ragged breaths while trying to cope with the pain. "It might kill her." He looked sideways at his enemy with a sly glance.

The Kurgan growled, "She is beyond my help, let her die. There's more where she came from." He smirked at the way he spoke as if she meant so little to him made Belfeiro's composer slip.

The other man scowled. "Do you mean to tell me that this woman, whom you have murdered dozens of people for, is expendable?" He growled between clenched teeth and raised an eyebrow as The Kurgan chuckled slowly in his throat.

The giant smiled, "Did you really think I would care about a simple woman that much? Ha! Pathetic. She is a woman, a replaceable one at that. So many would gladly take her place. When Hartmann kidnapped her I was glad!" he shouted happily. "It presented a challenge of retrieving her."

Belfeiro's eye twitched. "Do not tell me_ now_. . .that all I have done was for nothing!" His voice rose with each word.

Across from him, the other Immortal just grinned. . .

**Things are heating up! You'd thought I wouldn't post today since I've been such a bad author of late didn't you. . .? No I don't think you all thought so poorly of me x) You all came back for the last chapter, I wouldn't dare leave you! chapter 31 to come soon...Will it be the last!? Gasp!e**


	31. Chapter 31

**Followers and fans! I give you. . .chapter 31. Enjoy!**

Belfeiro drew his own sword and screamed out in rage. The Kurgan blocked him easily enough and lunged brought his blade up from the bottom left. The Italian barely had time to deflect it, the force made his stumble back. Growling he grabbed the hil;t with both hands and looked up at the taller immortal. He screamed again and brought the sword over his head, trying to hit his opponent several times but failing.

The Kurgan used his brute strength and struck from both sides, often swinging upwards as that was Belfiero's weakness. He struggled to hold The Kurgan back as the brute dealt one heavy blow after another. He was furious, absolutely furious! He had spent years waiting for this opportunity, months for planning it, and even longer month s carrying it out. The Kurgan had taken her down in a matter of minutes. Then again it wasn't difficult, he should've known that. She was mentally mad, emotionally unstable, it wouldn't have been hard to unhinge her, no matter how much preparation he had put her through.

In his mind he shrugged, "Even if she hardly lasted a good fight at least I dealt her enough pain in the process of getting her to where they were now. That in itself gives me satisfaction enough satisfaction."

As the blows came down with increasing force from The Kurgan, the intruding Immortal glanced at Arielle and saw her starting to calm down from her fit. She seemed to be coming out of a daze and looked at them with uncertainty. He saw yet another opportune moment to strike, this time he hoped, it would give fatal consequences.

As The Kurgan lifted his sword for another blow, Belfiero dove and rolled towards the woman. He aimed his sword at her chest and reached out for her. He grabbed her and time slowed, he grabbed her and pulled them closer together. The blade in his hand sank into her side slowly, and deep. He bared his teeth in a grin and his eyes turned red with pleasure from the shock that appeared on her face. She held onto him for the life she had left and looked down to find that it had pierced her torso at a strange angle.

The Kurgan froze in place, his body locked from shock. It was a first for the ancient Immortal. His mouth slightly agape, his eyes blacker than night.

But his protégé wasn't going to let his get away with it so easily. She scowled and quickly grabbed the sword he had given her. She swung it back towards them and buried it through his arm, into his very side. There was a flop as the detached part of his arm fell to the ground. He looked at it in shock equal to The Kurgan's and let out a pain filled scream.

He jerked away from her, taking his sword in the process, and stumbled away from the both of them. Arielle gasped and held her chest when the sword left her, blood gushed through her fingers and she fell to the side. The Kurgan snapped back from his temporary paralysis and rushed towards his mate, abandoning the fight with Belfiero. He went to her and knelt down to look at the stab wound, her eyes fluttered open and closed as he held her up in his arms.

"Arielle," he growled.

She looked at him fully and he thought he saw the fire his true mate had. She didn't say anything, didn't do anything, and then. . .she went limp in his arms.

He shook her gently to wake her up and called her name, but there was no answer. A black fury crawled through his veins and heart, he carefully set her down. He stood up and slowly looked to where Blefeiro had been only to find him gone. He picked up his sword where it had fallen and began a hunt for the Italian Immortal. As he walked out of the courtyard an dinto the surrounding woods he could hear the cries of the servant woman who had befriended Arielle.

* * *

After the master left Mel had rushed forward and was leaning over the still body of her mistress. She sobbed heavily and held her as if Arielle was her own daughter. Her husband and son approached, the younger was shocked at the sight of the woman, the elder stared hard at the wound and then bent down to inspect it. He cut away her tunic to expose the stab wound and saw that it went through and through her entire body. His shoulders dropped as he gave up hope for her survival, he buried his face in his hands.

It was Eric, their young son, who could feel a lingering presence in the air about his mistress. Even through all the blood he swore he saw her breathing faintly. With his eyes glued to the lesion he spoke, "I think we should put her in her chambers."

His parents looked at him in hurt surprise. His father stood up and embraced his son. "The lass is gone son. We need to prepare her for burial."

"You can't father," Eric gently objected. "She's not dead. I-I can't explain it but she's. . . here. Don't make a pyre just yet."

With his parents stricken with grief, he knelt down and picked her up in his arms. She was light and fragile, her head hung limp. He carried her to her room and laid down before turning to her wound and binding it there on the spot.

* * *

The trail Belfiero left behind wasn't hard to follow. It was an obvious one and covered in blood, even in the thick underbrush. He was silent with only one thing on his mind; the death of Belfiero. Being an Immortal the man wouldn't die from his injury but he would be considerably weaker. He emerged into a glen, wrought with the signs of fall. He found his wounded target sitting hunched over a fallen log. He was shivering from the pain of his infliction.

He wasn't dying but he wished he was. Tears rolled down his tan cheeks and he looked up at the approaching reaper. He didn't try to defend himself, he didn't try to run. This was his end and he knew it. He looked up at his eminent harbinger of death, the angel of death more like it.

"It was mistake Kurgan," he said in a clear voice. "Bringing her here. And you know this."

The Kurgan stopped. "We are cosmic mates. We couldn't live without one another."

"I don't know how you became obsessed with a baby or how you even found her. But do you see now how dangerous it is for us, as Immortals, to have mates?" He panted for breath and took a moment to catch his breathing. "And you, bringing a human here from a different plane of existence? Blasphemy, even for our kind you bastard." He squeezed his stump and screamed, unashamed by it. "I've taught you a lesson that we all must learn, especially you. She isn't one of us and she never will be, so kill me now and avenge her death. You'll only be speeding my doom along while never getting her back."

The Kurgan glared at him with a cold stare, a stare that even unhinged Belfiero. The look took away any satisfaction the Italian Immortal could have gotten, it only showed his dark love of taking another's life, the seriousness he felt for it. He blade swiftly cut across air and split head from neck. The man who terrorized his mate was finally dead. The Kurgan stared at the body as the blue static crept along towards him. It lifted him into the air and he shouted as a powerful Quickening overpowered him, rushing through ever vein, filling his heart and shocking him, overtaking every sense in his brain.

* * *

That night, when he went back to his castle, he went to his chambers and was vaguely surprised to find his servants surrounding his bed. When he entered they parted to let him through and he found that it was a bedside vigil, led by none other the woman Mel and her small family. They bowed their heads respectfully as he walked through them and came to a stop by her side.

She looked peaceful, calm, half of her head was shaved but she was still beautiful. He was about to open his mouth to condemn them all to death for holding s vigil instead of fixing a pyre for her but there was subtle rise and fall of her chest. Like Eric he caught it and his blue eyes could only stare. Almand, who had lived through his ordeal with Moritz-but not without scars-, silently signaled the others to leave and everyone quietly filed out. Before she left, Mel placed a single candle on the writing desk. She looked at the master and then left.

All night he sat in a chair and watched her breathing. Even when the candle burned to a stub in the early hours of dawn he remained where he was. He hardly blinked and although he was nearing exhaustion from the riding, traveling, fighting and strain on his emotions and mind, he refused to sleep. Not until she woke up. Not until he saw her eyes the way he remembered them. For over a year and a half now he had been fighting to get the woman he brought here back, his true mate. There had been a look in her eyes before she appeared to die where he was sure her true self was back. While he believed in no god he demanded that whatever higher power existed to give her back to him, if they didn't he'd make the very cosmic balance between the planes of existence suffer.

Before finding her he had waited years, from his creation, the moment his character in the human plane was created, when he was portrayed by the other man. His life had been his own and he used it, afgter his defeat by MacLeod, to find another purpose in life. When he was killed by MacLeod he only came to the new world of Highlander, where they were now, the universe created by humans. He came here and lived the way he did, still lacking a core reason, he merely lived to kill for his own personal gain, not for any prize. And then one day like any other, his felt a buzzing in the back of his skull. An irritating, maddening feeling that drove him into periodic fits of rage.

Suddenly he found himself traverse through a black tunnel and emerged into a world he knew, the human world. He was unseen by everyone else of course but he was there all the same. For days he wondered why he had found this passage way and soon he found himself drawn to a hospital. Through the halls and a thin, red, string suddenly appeared tied to his left index finger.

In morbid curiousity he followed the string, and wound up staring at a woman giving birth. The string ended around the left index finger of the baby being born. A little girl came kicking and screaming into the world and something about her spirit drew The Kurgan, aroused him in areas in his heart and head that he didn't understand. It was at the moment of her birth, when he looked over the men who were attending to her, and he saw her naked, kicking, crying at the injustice of the way she was treated. She was his, belonged to him in every shape, way and form, and he knew this, right away.

He entered her dreams when she was a child, hide in the darkness of her mind where her thoughts didn't venture. He influenced her sexuality at a young age to get her ready for him, protected her from nightmares that would have killed her. He was always there, watching her, driving her, making her think perverted thoughts at an early age. In truth he was trying to get her to realize he was there but for some reason she never brought him out. Not until her brother, Charlie, died in a car crash protecting her.

Her emotional state was so depressed and broken that he was able to make his way out on his own. Yet she still had no idea why he was there. He spent many long weeks getting her to see that they were created side by side, only for the other. Despite the fact that by human standards he wasn't real and she was, they were mates. He fought for her three times now and would do it all over again in the same life time. Nothing would keep him from her, they were together in life and they would be together in death.

She was his toy, his pet, mate, possession. His, and his alone. Likewise he belonged to her but in his mind he owned her more than she owned him. It had been an awful mistake of the universe to create them whole universes apart but all that mattered was that he had found her, and he was not about to let go. The only woman he never grew old of, never got bored of, always craved and never had enough of.

Yes he would wait. Even when the sun began climbing up the sky form the horizon he waited. Of course he didn't have to wait long. With the sun came her life. She slowly sat up and looked around the room before looking at him. She rubbed her head and felt the half of it that was shaved off. She raised an eyebrow and then looked at him.

"Jesus Christ Kurgan. What happened?"

He grinned and chuckled darkly, "Do you really wish to know the entirety of it?"

She sighed and nodded. "What happened after I ran off and Derboth punched me? It's all. . .fuzzy after that." She looked at him with a look of sarcastic apology.

He grinned and instead of answering her crawled into bed and did the one thing he had wanted to for over a year and a half with his true mate.


	32. Chapter 32

**The end. . . .Enjoy. . .**

Light lit the room with a warm glow. Two figures lay together in the massive bed. A dark haired, giant of a man held a blonde haired woman with her back to his chest. They were both naked and even in sleep his hands roamed, touching her everywhere. He awoke first, his blue eyes opening slowly and leisurely. He blinked slowly before looking downwards at the woman he held.

He hardly dared to believe it. Was she really here? Was she really back? After all these months, waiting, struggling, patience. He remembered killing Belfiero, and nearly having to kill her as well, all for the fiant sliver of hope that letting his enemy torture her would bring her true memory back. Only when she awoke would he know for sure.

He didn't have to wake longer. She suddenly moaned gratefully and stretched, clearly unashamed that she was naked in his bed. He took his hands away from her and watched her move. Her slender body now had muscle tone to it, and he had felt that she was stronger than her old self the night before, he grinned at that thought.

Feeling her body from the inside again like before had made him do incredible things with her. By the way she moaned his name and begged for more he could tell she wanted him. Truly wanted him this time, he didn't have to coerce her, rape her, or convince her of anything. It had been so long her body had gotten more akin to that of a virginal girl's and he enjoyed that bit.

His heart quickened when she arched her back, it brought back memories to a time when he couldn't touch her. That time with her and nearly driven him to insanity. Now he grinned and watched her with a sexual passion.

"Woman," he growled. His deep voice like gravel to her ears.

She turned her gaze to him and for a moment stared back placidly. His heart skipped a beat but then she smiled back.

"Kurgan," she said. Her tone and voice were the real Arielle he had been searching for.

Without warning she latched onto his neck, brought her knee up to his side, and pressed her body closer to his. She pressed her mouth to his and stuck her tongue into his mouth, wanting him to do the same. He gladly grabbed her body in his massive hands and pulled her closer. She moaned against his breath and tilted her head back for air. In the same moment The Kurgan ran his tongue from her collar bone to .chin. She giggled seductively and wrapped her leg around his waist, pressing her womanhood against his skin, he was thrilled to find she desired him in the morning.

Before they knew it, he was leaning over her, while deep inside. He pushed against her and made her cheeks bleed with color. She bit her lip and held onto him for dear life, never wanting to let go. The Kurgan wasn't the only one exhilarated to have their mate back. It was as if she had missed the feeling he gave her, missed feeling him- all of him- and what he could do.

She had felt trapped in her own body ever since the night she had been kidnapped. Only the night before had she come out of the trapped feeling and found that she couldn't remember anything since that time. Her head was half shaven, she felt sore all over. Soon she would find the bruises from all of her rigorous "training" had left her.

She moaned again, louder, and he leaned down to suck on her neck. She adored it, she adored him. Her body rocked from his thrusts and it was all she could do to hold onto his broad shoulders while he moved in and out of her. She had missed him so much, and to finally hold him again was a burst of relief. He reached back and grabbed her ankle, lifting it high in the air and leaning back. He looked down at her body while they moved together and she didn't hide anything.

Finally they both shuddered and howled together as bursts of release rushed through both. The Kurgan leaned forward and buried his face in the hallow where the shoulder meets the neck. Her skin was warm and a little bit sweaty. He felt her shake beneath him and a rush of strength rolled through him, not enough to have another go with her but enough to let him know he owned her.

He turned over on his back to catch his breath and felt her nestle up against him.

"You wont belive what its like to feel trapped in your body. How many time I wanted to hold you, tell you I was here," she said. "Is it all truly over Kurgan? Belfeiro, Hartmann, Derbith. Can we just be with each other now?"

"Two are dead, Derbith has disappeared. The final battle is over now. There is only time for you learning who truly owns your body." He rumbled.

She looked at him skeptically, "I own my body thank you very much."

"Oh?" He growled and thrust his hand between her legs.

She gasped and tried to hold him back but her efforts were non-existent for all the good they did. She closed her eyes and thrashed her head from side to side. "Ok! Ok! Kurgan please! Ahh!"

Suddenly he rolled onto of her and his face hovered close to hers. He stopped and his hands struck out to pin her wrists down. He stared at her with his blue eyes and she swore she could do that forever. She sighed and let her body relax under his. He suddenly pressed his lips to hers and kissed her with a hard passion, which she returned. When he pulled away she moaned in sadness, the sound took him back to brushing his lips against her skin.

"Lets stay like this forever," she said. "I never want to leave you again. If you go to war, I go with you, if you are called away then I go too." She looked at the ceiling while he kissed her along her soft neck. "Got it?"

He growled as a response. That day they didn't go to the village or out hunting. Arielle watched The Kurgan go through his study and look through every paper to see what Belfeiro had touched. To occupy her time she stared into a hand mirror and despaired about what had happened to her hair. She touched the fuzz where she had shaved it off.

"How did I even manage to do this?" She asked no one in particular. She whined as she touched the fuzz again.

He looked up at her and studied her new look. He couldn't say he approved. While he wasn't one for caring about appearances- besides to be intimidating- he didn't agree with what she had done. He wanted her to look like a delicate woman, all the better when he ravished her. He grunted in agreement with her and let his gaze wander down to the curves of her bottom. He dress was draped perfectly to outline her body, he had to contain his excitement lest he throw her on the desk and strip her bare.

"It should grow back fast, right?" She asked the air again. "I mean my hair usually grows fast. . .But this is awful! I never cared about anything more in my life."

The Kurgan stopped moving and hummed a growl in response.

Her back straightened and she instinctively shuffled away from him, her movements still slightly stiff from their morning love making. She pouted when she looked at him and earned one of his dark chuckles. It gave her comfort and she went back to looking at her hair.

The Kurgan agreed with her request to never leave his side. As they spent the day in his study, he decided that they would going to stay put in the castle for a good measure. After the ordeal they had both gone through, a long overdue rest was well in order.

**HA! Yeah right! Not the end by any means. Merely a break between stories. This was like a small reunion chapter for the two and cool down one for me. I thought they needed some romance back :3 Aww they're so cute. I'll write more romance scenes in upcoming chapters, we'll have some small little adventures before working up to the next big one! I need a little moments rest though, I've been working on the others stories I have going, and other little projects...including a steamy little bit I wrote that will probably never go anywhere...Unless I post it on my facebook page! Maybe. Anyway! Thank you to my readers :) I love you all. Stayed tuned for more Kurgan goodness!**


	33. Note!

Hey everybody! This is just a response to some of the reviews before the next chapter and I'll get rid of this a few days after the next posting.

First off! Thank you to everyone reading! I would be nothing without you all.

AlmightyWarrior! Cheese! Snuggle Bunny! Nameless guesties!

This story is far from ended and as soon as I finish the next two stories I will be taking ideas from you lot. I love that Fanfic can be interactive. Who else wants to help me make this one of the longest Highlander fanfics, if not one of the longest Fics, ever to be posted? Huzza! And this isn't because I've run out of ideas ha I just think it would be fun to have you guys throw ideas at me and be apart of it.

I actually like the ideas of Kurgan taking Arielle to his homelands and the Horsemen making appreances. Connor will defiantly be coming back too! He did convince Arielle to take The Kurgan back in the first place so he's kind of special. If any of you have any more ideas feel free to go to my facebook page and tell me! OR you can leave them here too x)

Oh, and whatever happened to Derbith anyway...? Hmmmmm!

If you want to add me on facebook just shoot me a message with your user name or something along those lines.

To Guest hehe For the growling thing, it's something Clancy Brown does and it's so sexy X_X I don't really know how else to explain it. His voice for The Kurgan is just so deep if he hums or makes some low noise it sounds like a growl to me.

As for When Castles Burn, well. . .I think you'll all be presently surprised about it. It will go a little bit like Connors training but this story is actually leading up to that so Ramirez sort of develops that training. It's also a female who is very attached to Ramirez so you can use your imaginations as to that.

Nadia needs special treatment because she needs to be rehabilitated into society and mingling with humans after her stint with The Kurgan and his abuse. Ramirez is going to take a little extra care with her. But wait! Is there a sad romance in the air? O_O

This takes place around one hundred years or less before he finds Connor (I went through A LOT of timeline checking to make sure the dates were all correct Y_Y)

Nadia is the last pupil before he meets Connor. This story will also explain how The Kurgan even found Connor in the first place. This is also before Ramirez became involved with the Spanish king, it takes place just as he barely assumes his Spanish identity, brand spakin' new.

I shall be uploading the next chappie soon! WCB will be up in a little bit, I did a lot of work for that the other day. 4,325 words in an hour and a half, equals about three more chapters. There's a couple chapters I wrote a long time ago that I can't wait to lead up to.

Again, thank you! These Highlander stories are very special to me and it means a lot to have reviewers and followers who love it so much..

First and foremost, this entire story-line is dedicated to my lost love, "Charlie", I miss you baby.

Next to you the reviewers, without you I probably would never have continued this. An especially BIG thank you to AlmightyWarrior, Snuggle Bunny, and Cheese!

And last, but by NO MEANS, the least, I dedicate this to our beloved Kurgan; Clancy Brown!

-Wouldn't it be amazing if he saw this? o_o'' I would die from happiness-

(ok, and Monsieur Lambert, as well as Sir Sean Connery... Thank you for your inspiration as well)

I write for you.


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